Daisy
by Thus Spake The Pancake
Summary: Seto Kaiba knows he has some very dark personal demons, and after these issues drive him to a breakdown in which he hurts his little brother, he is forced to deal with the emotional and psychological aspects of his past that affect him now. Mokuba just hopes that he's willing to go as far as he needs to in order to heal from the past, and truly move on.
1. Chapter 1

Daisy

It all started early one evening in the beginning of December. Mokuba had been battling a case of pneumonia, which (along with lots of cough medicine) had knocked him out for the majority of the week. One of the maids kept bringing him medicine, fluids, and food, but Seto hadn't been in once for the whole week. Mokuba knew he was busy working, and for all he knew, had maybe stopped in while the little Kaiba was already asleep.

Mokuba sighed, stretched, and kicked back his covers, then stumbled out of bed and down the hall to his brother's office. He yawned and put his hand on the knob, but jumped back when he realized it was locked, the surprise hitting him like electricity. Frowning, he knocked, then listened. The only sound was that of muted continuous typing and the occasional shuffling of papers.

"Seto?" he called weakly; his voice still wasn't working the greatest quite yet. There was no response. He swallowed, and dragged himself up another flight of stairs to the small secret door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit, where an assortment of spare keys were kept. Mokuba remembered how he had once joked that they should definitely do that, and after his big brother had humored him and installed the key safe like that, the younger brother had laughed so hard that Seto had genuinely smiled. Mokuba retrieved the key to his brother's office and went back and unlocked it, gaping in disbelief at what he saw.

Papers littered the entire area, as if Seto had decided he'd like a paper carpet over the dark hardwood floor, and a significant amount of coffee mugs filled a substantial portion of his desk. Mokuba blanched when he realized his brother was wearing a rumpled pair of his navy blue flannel pajamas, with the top three buttons undone; he was pretty sure one of the buttons was actually missing. Seto's face was almost completely void of color, and shadows darkened the space beneath his already angry cold blue eyes. His hair stuck out wildly at certain angles that let Mokuba know he probably hadn't showered for a while, let alone slept, or ate, or any other sort of human function. Mokuba frowned and walked over to the desk.

"Big Brother?"

Seto scowled and glared over at the child momentarily. "I don't have time to chat, Mokuba, I'm in the middle of dealing with something important."

Mokuba blinked, taken aback. His brother was rarely ever short with him. He swallowed and suppressed a cough, leaning on the desk for support. Seto growled and slammed his hand over a pile of papers a few inches away from Mokuba's arm.

"Move away; I don't need anything messed with," he snarled. Mokuba shuddered and drew away as if he'd received a nasty electrical shock.

"Seto, when was the last time you ate something?" he asked quietly after a hesitation. Seto made no show that he had heard the little Kaiba, so Mokuba pressed on. "When did you last sleep?"

Seto pounded his fists on the desk and glared at the sick child. "Damn it, Mokuba, I don't have _time_ for any of this crap right now. I'm trying to get all the paperwork done and the bugs smoothed out of the new virtual reality simulators before they're revealed on Christmas Eve. Now go back to bed. The doctor said you weren't well enough to work, so I don't understand why you're in here."

"Because I _missed_ you," Mokuba shouted back. "I haven't seen you all week, and I've been feeling like crap. Is it really so bad that I came just to _see_ you?"

"Yes, it is," Seto retorted hotly. "Because I'm busy. I don't have time to argue, Mokuba, so see yourself out."

"Yes, _Gozaburo_," Mokuba seethed, and he began to storm out, taking care to knock over a lamp and kick the papers strewn over the floor on his way. He slammed the door behind him, and thundered off to his room.

Mokuba threw himself onto his bed and began to cry. Logically, he knew there must be something else bothering his brother, since he was never so pointedly short with or so _mean_ to the younger Kaiba. But physically, he was still unwell, which in turn made him a little more emotionally vulnerable and reactive. So he curled up there and cried, until he started to hear thuds and crashes from down the hall. He took a few shaky breaths before venturing out into the hallway, listening to his brother scream curses at their late adoptive father, punctuated by the distinct sound of something breaking, and then repeating. Mokuba cringed, feeling guilty for calling his brother by that monster's name. No matter how cold and bad Seto Kaiba seemed to the world, Mokuba knew that was just his defense, and that his brother's heart was gold, but a little broken. An indeterminate amount of concealed pain was now bursting through the badly stitched seams of his mask. Mokuba would have liked to believe that this was due more to him not having slept or anything for who knew how long, but ultimately, he knew that his words were the cause of this reaction regardless of any pre-existing circumstances.

He stood there, frozen, until there had been a safe amount of silence, and then he crept down the office, silently and slowly opening the door. Lamps and windows were shattered, and books had been evicted from their home and forcefully relocated to random points in the room. Papers had been crumpled and trashed, and Seto leaned against his desk, trembling, and Mokuba could see vivid crimson blood running down his hands and arms from where his skin had lost the battle with shards of glass during his raging. He stepped into the office and drew in a quick breath.

"Seto, I'm sorry..." he started, but didn't get a chance to finish his apology, because Seto immediately lunged at Mokuba and grabbed him, slamming him into the wall and pinning him there.

"_I am not Gozaburo Kaiba_!" the elder brother thundered furiously. Mokuba wriggled against his brother's grasp to no avail, until Kaiba threw him forcefully to the floor. Mokuba tried to hold back his tears as he tried climbing to his feet once again.

"I know that, Seto, I'm so sorry, I was just-"

"_No_!" Seto yelled, sending Mokuba across the room once again. "How _dare_ you..." He started the approach the little Kaiba, with an expression so demonic that for the first time in his life, Mokuba was afraid of his brother, especially since he knew exactly what the young man was capable of. He scrambled to his feet and tried to keep as much distance between them as possible, trying to figure out how to escape; unfortunately, Seto was unwillingly to let this happen, so Mokuba saw only one option.

"_Roland_!" the younger brother screamed at the top of his lungs, knowing that the live-in bodyguard had to be somewhere in the vicinity. A few moments later, Roland barreled into the room, and gaped at this unprecedented situation.

"Mr. Kaiba, what's-"

"He's lost it," Mokuba cried as Seto made another grab for his brother. Roland managed to catch and restrain the elder brother just in time, and Mokuba ran over to the phone. "I'm calling the doctor, because -yeah." His last sentence was cut off abruptly as Seto attempted to break out of his restraint, almost succeeding until Roland forced him to the ground. Mokuba dialed the family doctor's number, and the man answered rather quickly, as unscheduled calls from the Kaiba household were very rare.

"This is Dr. Kurata."

"It's Mokuba!" the child gasped frantically. "Seto's having a complete mental breakdown, I don't know what to do!"

"Is he trying to hurt himself or anyone else?" the doctor asked sharply.

"Yeah," Mokuba winced as the bodyguard struggled with his employer.

"Call for emergency. They'll send out police and an ambulance. I will meet you at the hospital," Dr. Kurata directed, and hung up before Mokuba could protest to policeman showing up at the mansion. But it was no time to fight about public appearances, as what was already happening right before his eyes was wrong enough. He dialed for help, and it wasn't long at all before cops and emergency medical people had infiltrated the office. It took Roland and two other cops to restrain Seto enough for the paramedics to give him a shot to sedate him, and within moments, the raging wildfire had vanished, and Seto had gone completely limp in their arms. Mokuba watched-horrified-as he was strapped into a stretcher and immediately pushed out.

Roland took a few breaths before turning to the trembling kid. He squatted down and clapped both hands on his shoulders, immediately noting the heat emanating from the child's feverish body. "Mokuba, I know this is difficult, but you are still ill. You need to go back to bed." Mokuba bristled at this, despite knowing full well that Roland was listed as Seto's backup should anything happen to him.

"No, Dr. Kurata wants to meet me at the hospital. I won't be able to sleep without knowing what's happening with Seto anyhow," the kid shot back. Roland exhaled slowly, then nodded reluctantly.

"All right. Let's go."

On the way to the hospital, Mokuba made a phone call to Yugi Muto, knowing that his brother didn't particularly like the other duelist, but respected and (to an extent) trusted him nonetheless. He just wanted to give the boy a heads up, 'just in case' sort of notice, but the spiky haired boy immediately promised Mokuba he'd meet him at the hospital.

Which Mokuba was grateful for; he needed as much support as he could get at the moment.

Roland sat beside him in the lobby, keeping an almost annoyingly close eye on the child, reaching out every time Mokuba coughed or shivered. As time passed, the little Kaiba felt his eyelids growing heavy and his head started drooping forward, startling him back into alertness each time it did so. Finally, Yugi and Joey rushed into the lobby, with frantic and concerned looks on their faces.

"Mokuba!" Joey exclaimed, squatting down in front of the child. "What happened, little man? Last I heard you were sick in bed getting over a bug or something."

Yugi's heart twisted when he watched Mokuba look at Joey; his expression was so..._lost_. Those large, spunky gray eyes were now stormy and sad, while his face was flushed, which let Yugi know that he was still indeed under the weather. Yugi sat on Mokuba's other side and put a hand on his back in reassurance. Mokuba unwittingly leaned into Yugi before speaking.

"Seto and I got into a big fight. I've been pretty out of it for the past week or so, and during that time I guess my brother kind of went into full-on work mode, which is a lot less productive than it sounds," Mokuba said, shaking his head. "I went to go talk to him, and when I saw him I knew that he hadn't even been taking care of himself."

"So who's been taking care of you?" Joey demanded. "I thought Rich Boy would be the kind who wouldn't leave you alone for a second if you were sick! What's his deal?"

"The doctor stopped by a couple times, and one of the maids brings me medicine and stuff. I've mostly just been really tired...I didn't even notice that Seto was getting so obsessive again. But today he got kind of mad at me, and I..."

At this point, Roland excused himself after receiving a phone call, leaving Mokuba alone with Joey and Yugi. Mokuba was quite glad, because he wasn't sure how much Roland was aware of. He turned back to the other two and shook his head.

"I said something really bad. I hurt Seto."

Joey furrowed his eyebrows, and Yugi tightened his arm around Mokuba's shoulders.

"What'd you say?" Joey asked, unsure of where this was going.

"I called him Gozaburo," Mokuba told them in a voice barely above a whisper. Neither Yugi nor Joey responded right away to this; they were both aware that Gozaburo Kaiba was a very sore spot for Seto Kaiba, but they'd never really known the extent of it. But by the way Mokuba was talking, it was almost like what he'd done was unforgivable, and he was sure he lost his brother forever.

"So how exactly did we all end up here?" Joey blurted out. "So, yeah, you two had an argument. Even Serenity and I disagree on things sometimes and we don't even live together, but-"

"Joey," Yugi cut in softly, noticing the tears gathering in Mokuba's eyes. He carefully brushed one away as it escaped down his cheek, and Mokuba gave Yugi a look of subtle gratitude before speaking.

"I said the worst possible thing to Seto when he was probably in the worst state of mind...he's been stressed and exhausted, and I pushed him too far just because I've been a little more irritable than I should be. He just...snapped."

Joey and Yugi nodded in unison, and Joey glanced at a nearby clock.

"Well, it's going on ten at night...Mokuba, why don't you go and spend the night at Yugi's? Get some sleep and take some more medicine. You look like you could use both. I'll stay here with your brother and try talking to him."

Mokuba gaped up at Joey in disbelief. "Look, I appreciate you coming down here, but you're not exactly who my brother would want to see when he wakes up."

"They have him heavily sedated, Mokuba, he won't be awake anytime soon, and when he does, I doubt he'll be up for much arguing."

The three boys looked over to where Roland had just walked back into the room.

"I was going to ask Yugi to take you tonight anyhow, as there is a matter at Kaiba Corp I need to attend to. I don't think you should spend the night by yourself in your current state. And if you are still willing to wait for Mr. Kaiba to come to...?" Roland looked at Joey expectantly, and the blonde nodded.

"Yeah, we got this," Joey assured him. Roland thanked both of them and bowed out. Yugi turned and took Mokuba's hand.

"Tristan will come and pick us up," he told Mokuba. "We can stop and get some more medicine, if you'd like." Yugi waved over at Joey, who threw the two a sloppy salute as they left.

A little while later, a nurse poked her head into the lobby.

"Joey Wheeler?" The blonde nodded. "You can come with me back to the room."

Joey suddenly felt a little nervous as he followed the petite woman to a room on the far side of the hospital. She paused outside before opening the door.

"He's still out, but I'm just going to let you know that he's currently unrestrained. When he wakes up, he'll still be pretty out of it, so there shouldn't be any issues, but if he tries to hurt himself or gets too upset, just press the blue button on the wall by his bed and some doctors will come assist." She smiled at him and opened the door, and Joey entered.

Seto was deeply asleep, and Joey could hear his heavy, even breathing clearly when he went to sit in the chair beside the bed. Both of Seto's hands were bound in a thick layer of bandages, along with a few bandages scattered around his right arm. He noticed that he was only covered by a thin cream-colored sheet, which seemed stupid in the absurdly chilly room, and he got up from the chair and made his way to the table on the other side of the hospital bed, where someone had left a couple of quilts. Joey spread them both out over Seto's sleeping form before returning to the chair, keeping a careful eye over him.

It was a little unnerving to see this guy who was usually so alert and reserved asleep and completely stationary. Joey couldn't stop himself from pulling back the quilts several times to make sure that his chest was still moving; despite being able to hear him breathe, it just didn't seem logical that a living person would be that still. He looked at the clock on the wall, which told him it was nearly three in the morning at this point. Joey sighed and closed his eyes, attempting to relax a little bit. Initially, he'd been worried about falling asleep himself, but there was just something about the whole situation that was making him anxious to the point of making him feel as though he was going to vomit all over the white room.

'_Well, at least that would add some color_,' he thought, suddenly distracted by how incredibly blank the whole room was. He glanced around, and noticed that there happened to be a black marker on the ledge of the whiteboard in the room. He sneaked a look out at the nurses' station, where one lone nurse sat typing on a computer, paying no attention to anything else. Joey grinned, retrieved the black marker, flopped back onto his chair, and fished the yellow highlighter from his pocket. He'd snatched it from Téa earlier as a joke, but had forgotten to give it back. Well, at least it came in handy now.

Sort of.

He ever-so-discreetly turned his chair towards the wall, and drew a yellow circle on it, then filled it in. Then he switched to the black marker and drew a set of five circles around the yellow one, creating a crude flower. Proud of his daisy graffiti, he smiled again. Then, belatedly realizing that his masterpiece might actually get him in some trouble, he maneuvered the chair around so it blocked the flower from the sight of anyone entering through the door or passing by.

There. Perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

Daisy

Yugi originally gave Mokuba his bedroom, and had piled a multitude of extra blankets on the shivering child. When that didn't keep him warm enough, he went down to the game shop and grabbed one of the little portable space heaters his grandfather kept behind the counter and brought it up to the bedroom. He plugged it in, gave Mokuba some of the cough medicine, and sat and talked quietly with the child until Mokuba dozed off. Then he turned the heater off, since it really wasn't even cold in the room, and was a little concerned about Mokuba overheating despite whatever the feverish chills were telling his body.

Yugi went to sleep on the couch in the living room, and he got (at most) a couple hours in before he felt someone shaking his shoulder. His violet eyes fluttered open sleepily, and he blinked into the darkness.

"Yugi? Are you awake?" Mokuba asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm up," he responded, easing himself into a sitting position. "Are you all right? Do you need some more medicine?"

Mokuba paused, then nodded. "Yeah...I can't stop coughing. I didn't know where you put it, I should've asked earlier..."

Yugi stood up and touched the kid's shoulder. "It's all right. The medicine's in the kitchen, just give me a second." Mokuba nodded and curled up on the couch-in the same warm spot Yugi had just abandoned-while Yugi went back to the kitchen and measured out another dose of cough medicine for him. He walked back to the living room and handed Mokuba the little cup, and watched as he forced it down.

Mokuba handed the cup back to him. Yugi brought it back to the kitchen, and then walked Mokuba back to the bedroom. Mokuba hesitated in the doorway for a moment before speaking. "Yugi?"

"Yes?"

Mokuba fidgeted nervously. The truth was, he hadn't been sleeping well, with all the drama and anxiety from the events of the evening. Usually, when he was feeling overwhelmed like that, he'd either go sleep in his brother's bed or on the couch in his office, depending on Seto's current whereabouts at the time. Yugi was always so kind and caring, and Mokuba didn't want to be alone...but they certainly weren't as close as brothers. Mokuba swallowed and looked up at him sadly.

"Will...will you please stick around for a little bit? I'm having a hard time staying asleep."

Yugi understood, and showed him how a second bed slid out from underneath his own bed.

"Joey stays over a lot, because of his dad," Yugi explained. "My grandpa and I put this in here so he doesn't hog the couch since he likes to sleep late and it's hard to wake him up. If you'd like, I can stay here for the rest of the night."

Mokuba smiled and threw a couple of the extra blankets over at him before burrowing under his own blankets and yawning. "Thank you, Yugi." The spiky haired boy smiled as well, happy that the kid seemed to be relaxing so quickly.

* * *

By the time seven o' clock in the morning rolled around, Joey had drawn three more daisies on the wall out of sheer boredom. As the night had progressed, he'd gotten more comfortable with the fact that Seto was sleeping. He was not dead or dying and this was not some elaborate plan to humiliate Joey in some weird, twisted way. Not to say that Seto was above trying to humiliate Joey; actually, he seemed to enjoy that quite a bit.

No, it was that Joey was pretty sure if Seto was going to try to humiliate him for some reason, he wouldn't have fake-snored so convincingly from around four in the morning straight through until sometime between five and five-thirty to sell his point. In fact, snoring seemed like something that the brunet would get all indignant and hissy about and deny tooth and nail if teased about it. So, Joey had no choice but to draw the conclusion that Seto Kaiba was actually asleep, and whatever drugs they'd forced into him knocked him so far out that he had snored. Unless, of course, he was actually just a habitual snorer, in which case Joey would totally try to find a way to get a video of that for the internet at a more appropriate time.

Yes, Joey was very, _very_ bored.

The blonde sighed and stretched with a yawn, then pulled out his phone to shoot Yugi a text, checking up on Mokuba and letting both of them know that the elder Kaiba had slept straight through the night and still hadn't woken up, just in case they were waiting for him to check in. When there was no response, he figured they weren't awake yet either. Ah, well, it was still pretty early. Strangely, Joey wasn't really all that sleepy, despite having stayed up the entire night and only having had half a cup of coffee. His eyelids felt scratchy when he blinked, but other than that, they remained magnetized to their respective half of his eye, refusing to meet in the middle for longer than that fraction of an instant.

Suddenly, a muted groan sounded from the slowly awakening brunet. Joey froze and watched intently as blue eyes fluttered open for a moment, focusing on the ceiling. Seto tried shifting a bit, but it appeared that he found his body too heavy to move. He let out a long exhale, and his eyelids slid shut again. Joey noticed his breathing didn't slow down again, though, and figured he must have remained awake.

"Kaiba?" he ventured as softly as he could, not wanting to startle Seto, all the while bracing himself to leap off the chair and slam the little blue button at an instant's notice if needed. To his complete and utter bafflement, Seto's eyes just opened slowly, and his head lazily turned to the direction of Joey's voice.

"Wheeler," he breathed the name out calmly, clearly still too dazed and out of it to use his actual voice. The blonde raised his eyebrow. No hissy fit or flippant attitude or even half of a glare or scowl?

He didn't know what the doctors and paramedics gave him, but it should probably become a regular thing.

Joey leaned forward and peered into his eyes, moving his head back and forth and side to side to determine if Seto was actually _seeing_ him. The blue orbs followed him around just fine until Joey sat back again, blinking. He'd always thought that if the CEO had just toned it down, relaxed a bit, and stopped being such a jackass, he'd actually be a good guy.

But all this actually happening was just too bizarre.

"Kaiba..." Joey started off, but then realized he didn't know what to say. Should he ask about what happened? Should he even mention Mokuba? He took a deep breath and decided to go for broke with some solid small talk.

"How'd you sleep?"

Seto blinked slowly before answering. "It doesn't feel like I slept. I'm tired…"

Joey paused, and quirked an eyebrow. "How the hell can you still be _tired_? You were knocked out for a long time. All evening, all night, and then some."

"_How_ long?" There was an air of familiar anxiety to his dazed voice. Joey cringed and tensed up once again.

"Almost thirteen hours," he answered reluctantly. "Um, listen..."

"Save it. I remember what happened with my brother. I know you're trying to avoid it."

Joey paused, but relaxed a little. The other male seemed to be coming around a little more, but the blonde still couldn't be entirely sure what was happening here.

"Kaiba?"

"What?"

"Aren't you even going to ask what I'm doing here?"

Seto moved again, and seemed to be trying to sit up. Unfortunately, his body was still a bit out of his control. Some parts felt as though they were filled with concrete while other areas were full of helium. Joey watched for a moment before realizing what he wanted, then jumped out of the chair; he gently lifted Seto's upper body to position him better before using the little keypad to elevate the head of the hospital bed up. He smirked a bit when he heard Seto grumble at being held up. Once the brunet was comfortably set up, he let another long sigh.

"I know why you're here."

"...Care to elaborate?"

Before Seto could answer, there was a quick, sharp knock on the door, and Dr. Kurata entered the room.

"Mr. Kaiba," the doctor said, giving the CEO a quick nod in greeting. "How are you feeling today?"

"Tired," Seto responded flatly. Dr. Kurata nodded again, and quickly checked his patient's eyes.

"That's to be expected. You probably feel like you haven't rested at all," he said, quickly checking the brunet's vitals. A nurse appeared in the room briefly, depositing a small white paper cup into each of the doctor's hands before disappearing. Dr. Kurata handed them over to Seto. "Take these. They're going to make you tired again, but you should be able to sleep better this time. This is another sedative, so you'll probably feel a little woozy and drowsy upon awakening again. It's much weaker than what they injected you with last night, of course. I've asked the therapist to give you until tomorrow to speak with her. It goes against what usually happens with behavioral health cases, but seeing as I've been your personal physician since you were a child, I convinced them that it would be best to give you space and rest before moving forward."

Seto had taken the medication as soon the doctor had advised him to do so; however, he choked on a second sip of water when the word 'therapist' was spoken.

"You want me to see a _shrink_?" His blue eyes flashed. "Why the hell would I need to see a shrink?"

Dr. Kurata gathered his instruments and a file folder and stuck them in his bag. "Mr. Kaiba, you physically harmed your brother and your bodyguard-two people who would protect you at any cost-and after speaking with them at length about what went on last night, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence that you would benefit from exploring the..._situation_," the man shot a quick look at Joey, who scowled, "that brings you here."

"I hadn't slept for more than thirty minutes in over a week," Seto snapped. "That was the situation."

"Perhaps," Dr. Kurata said noncommittally, "but for now, you have been placed on a seventy-two hour hold, and you are required to stay in the hospital unless you wish to create more issues for yourself." He gave Seto an implicit look before bowing out. The brunet growled, sending a glare after the doctor.

Joey remained quiet for a while, hoping that the medicine would kick in again, since Seto appeared to be highly agitated. Ten or so minutes later, he noticed that Seto's body seemed to be melting into the bed. He sighed and reached over to press the key to lower the head of the bed.

"I could figure out how to operate that on my own," the brunet grumbled. Joey snorted and grinned.

"I'm sure you could have. I mean, you _invent_ more complicated technology than these stupid bed levers. You looked like you were getting sleepy again and I just wanted to help you get more comfortable."

Seto shot him a look, which was undermined by the ensuing failure to suppress a yawn. His eyes closed, and for a few minutes Joey thought he was asleep again, but of course they inexplicably sprang open again. He almost forgot that he was dealing with Seto Kaiba for a second there.

"I know why you're here." His words were slightly slurred, but he was still generally coherent. "I knew if anything like this ever happened, Mokuba would call Yugi. And I told Roland that if Mokuba needed to stay with someone...Yugi would be there...and Mokuba would be safe..."

Joey nodded, not really knowing what that had to do with him and why he was there, but Seto was obviously slipping out of consciousness.

"Okay, Kaiba," he said quietly, deciding not to push it.

"And…if Yugi's somewhere, you are, too...you two never leave me alone..."

At this point, Joey knew Seto was just rambling because of the medication, and the longer he was awake, the less likely that whatever he was saying would still be said if he wasn't being sedated again. But even the blonde, who had never really liked the CEO, felt a pang of compassion at the despair inserting itself into his words. He said nothing and only silently leaned forward to lightly pull the quilts back over Seto's shoulders. A brief look of surprise passed through blue eyes at the action, and Joey fell back into the chair. Seto watched him for a moment before allowing his eyes to finally close long enough to let him fall asleep again.

Joey rubbed his own eyes, grudgingly wondering when they'd grown so heavy. He couldn't quite place it, but something had changed between the two of them. He envisioned himself always hating the rich egotist, but there was something telling him that he really wasn't so egotistical. Maybe that something was a high dosage of a nice tranquilizer, but if Joey saw that there was something else in a situation like this, then there probably was. He leaned back, yawning, and listened to Seto's soft breathing for a few moments before dozing off himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Daisy

Yugi had been awake since around eight, and could easily see that Mokuba was probably going to be pretty out of it. Leaving the kid to continue sleeping off his illness, he'd spent the rest of the morning working with his grandpa down in the game shop and explaining the situation to him. The old man watched carefully as Yugi stocked some booster sleeves in the glass case.

"Well, I have to say, I wouldn't want to be called Gozaburo either," Solomon said after Yugi had finished his story. "He was pure evil."

"You actually knew him?" Yugi asked, confused.

"Not personally. But I've been around for a little while, so I do remember Kaiba Corporation's history in military equipment quite clearly. That man was always in the news," the elder Muto said, shaking his head. "And you're too young to remember this, but I certainly remember how that man paraded Seto around everywhere after the adoption."

Yugi blinked. "Why?"

"To make himself look good to the general public. In the eyes of most, it takes a real do-gooder to adopt a couple of orphans, especially brothers who don't want to be separated," the elderly man explained. "Never saw much of Mokuba though."

"We saw Gozaburo briefly during that whole thing with Noah in the virtual world. At Battle City," Yugi told him with a sigh. "I know Kaiba was mistreated by him, but I'm not sure on the details."

"It was bad," a small, weak voice said from the doorway. Yugi and his grandfather turned around to see Mokuba standing there, shivering, and still all wrapped up in a blanket. His hair was wild and unkempt, and his glazed eyes were still drooping a bit.

"Yugi, it should be a slow day here, with the winter festival going on downtown. Why don't you take the day off and go take care of Mokuba?" Solomon suggested before lowering his voice. "And try getting ahold of Joey to see how Kaiba's doing."

Yugi nodded. "All right." He turned to Mokuba and gently guided him back inside and over to the couch. "I'm going to get a late breakfast. Can I get you something to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry, but thank you," Mokuba said. "Can I turn on the TV?"

"Of course," Yugi said. "But I'm going to get you a glass of juice. You should drink something, at least."

"Okay," Mokuba said, and curled up on the couch. He turned on the television and started watching some old sitcom until Yugi returned a few minutes later, carrying a bowl of cereal for himself and a big glass of apple juice for Mokuba. The child thanked him and took a sip of the juice. The two of them watched television in silence for a little while until Yugi finished his cereal.

"I'm going to try to call Joey," he told Mokuba. "We can see how your brother's doing."

Mokuba didn't respond for a minute. "Seto must hate me now."

"Your brother could never hate you," Yugi replied firmly. He shook his head and thought for a moment. "Maybe...maybe something good will come from all of this. Maybe this can be the beginning of your brother healing. I know he's damaged, Mokuba. But it's not too late."

Mokuba looked up sadly. "How is it not too late? Seto's stubborn, and he's not going to suddenly be happy and open up because someone's finally figured out that _Gozaburo_ is the one who hurt him. Except now, I'm not much better."

"Both you and your stubborn brother are good people. That's why it's not too late." Yugi stood up. "I'm going to go check my phone, maybe Joey already called. Give me a few minutes, okay?"

When Mokuba nodded, Yugi ran up to his room and pulled out his phone. There were no calls, but there was the text message Joey had sent much earlier that morning, asking about Mokuba. The spiky haired boy cursed himself for not checking when he got up and immediately called Joey. There was no answer, so Yugi assumed that Joey had passed out by this point.

But he really needed to check on the boy's brother. Mokuba needed to know what was going in.

He called this hospital, and asked a nurse to get Joey for him. He was put on hold for a few minutes, until there was about half a ring followed by Joey's tired voice.

"Yug?"

"Hey, Joey. Sorry to wake you up, I'm sure it was a long night for you. But-"

"But Mokuba wants to know about Kaiba. It's all good, he deserves to be kept updated," Joey said with a chuckle, then yawned. "I'm going to go out into the lobby and I'll call you back in a minute. Don't want Kaiba to wake up again."

"Okay," Yugi said, hanging up. He caught the 'again,' and his stomach churned over itself. His phone rang again, and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Kaiba woke up?"

"Yeah, earlier this morning."

"Wh-what happened? Why did they want him out again?"

Joey chuckled. "It wasn't anything bad, so don't worry, Yugi. He was pretty loopy, 'cause of the stuff they doped him up with. But I guess it also kind of screwed with his system or whatever. When his doctor came to check on him, he gave him some more medicine so he could sleep better. That's all."

"Okay," Yugi breathed out in relief. "So what happened when he woke up? I figured you guys would be at each other's throats and you'd be breaking down my door as soon as he saw you there."

"Yeah, I don't blame you for thinking that," Joey laughed. "But no, like I said, he wasn't all there. He was actually kind of dazed. Didn't even get an attitude."

Yugi giggled a bit at that. "That's almost terrifying."

"Eh. Well, I guess he did get pretty snippy when the doctor told him he had to talk to a therapist, and you should have seen his face when they told him that he's stuck here for the next few days," the blonde recalled with a sigh. "But that shouldn't surprise anyone."

"No," Yugi agreed. "But I'm glad that he's doing all right. For now, at least."

"So how's Mokuba doing?"

"He's still pretty sick. Plus he still feels bad about what he said to Kaiba, so I'm doing what I can to help him out. He had a rough night, though, and was up earlier than I thought he'd be. Maybe he'll take a nap later," Yugi mused, more to himself than Joey. "Can you call when Kaiba wakes up? I think Mokuba wants to apologize."

"Will do," Joey said, and they hung up. Yugi shoved his phone in his pocket and went back to where Mokuba was still bundled up on the couch, clutching the now half-empty glass of juice. He looked up from the TV as Yugi walked in, and turned it off.

"Is my brother...?"

"He's all right," Yugi assured him with a smile. "He woke up early this morning, and the doctor checked in with him. They're letting Kaiba catch up on some more rest before getting into anything else."

"Is Joey still there with him? I know Seto can be mean, but I don't want him to be alone right now. If Joey doesn't want to be with him, then I will, but-"

"Mokuba," Yugi cut in gently. "Joey's going to stick around as long as he needs to. According to him, they didn't even argue with each other."

The child forced a smile and leaned against Yugi, a far away look in his eyes replacing the smile on his mouth. "I just hope he forgives me for causing all of this."

"You _didn't_ cause all of this. Kaiba's been holding in too much anger and pain for a long time, and apparently overworking himself, too. _Everything_ he was doing was a recipe for disaster, and that's what happened. Even if your comment hurt him, he'll get over it. This isn't your fault. The love your brother has for you is a powerful thing, Mokuba. Look at all it's motivated him to do. He loves you so much."

"He never says it."

Yugi considered that for a moment, although he was unsurprised. "I know that can be upsetting, but does he really _need_ to say it?" he asked carefully, pointedly looking at Mokuba.

The kid seemed to understand. "No, I guess not. It's just been a bad week."

"Yeah, I can tell," Yugi said sympathetically, leaning back against the couch. He looked over at Mokuba, and noticed he seemed to be sweating a little. He brushed the back of his hand against Mokuba's forehead and frowned at the heat he felt, then stood up to get some acetaminophen for him. "Here, take this. It'll help with your fever and make you more comfortable."

Mokuba accepted the small pill and swallowed it with the rest of his apple juice. "Thanks, Yugi." He pulled the blanket around himself even tighter and looked over at the tower of countless DVDs. "Can we watch a movie?"

"Good idea," Yugi agreed, jumping up and going after the cabinet. "Got anything in mind?"

* * *

Joey woke up again late that afternoon to the prickly, uncomfortable feeling of being watched. He groaned and forced his stiff body into a normal sitting position. Chairs that didn't recline were decidedly _not_ made for sleeping. He winced as his back and neck cracked and clicked back into alignment, and he shook his body a final time in an attempt to shed the aching feeling.

"How many damn flowers did you draw on the wall?"

The blonde jumped, startled, and looked at the brunet, who was now propped up in bed, looking quite awake. He turned and realized that somehow, the chair had moved and was now revealing his ridiculous mural.

"How are you going to assume that was me? Other people have been in this room before, you know."

Seto snorted and crossed his arms. "Please." He watched as Joey moved the chair back over to hide his artwork before sitting down again and making eye contact.

"When did you get up?" Joey asked, stretching his arms over his head as far as he could. His body felt like it'd been stuffed up into a little hamster ball.

"A couple hours ago," Seto said, giving him an odd look. "Some woman was screaming from nearby, I don't know how the hell you slept through that." Joey shot him a half-glare and slammed his arms stubbornly across his chest, but silently acknowledged the fact that Seto had let him sleep without any evil jabs or anything.

"I was tired, seeing as I was up all night looking after _someone_," Joey retorted.

"It's not my fault. I didn't ask you to stay here."

"You're welcome."

"I didn't need you."

The blonde rose to his feet with a heavy sigh. "Well, I'm not going to beat a guy while he's down. And since you're back to being a jackass again, I think I'll get out of this psycho place while I can." He grabbed his jacket from behind the chair and draped it over his shoulder, heading for the door. "Also, you should probably give Mokuba a call. Kid's worried about you."

Seto's face froze in an expression somewhere between an angry glare and almost zoning out sadly.

"Don't."

It was Joey's turn to give him the odd look. "Don't what?"

"No one else is here."

"Man, you really are a genius, aren't you?" Joey snorted, and was about to tell him off when he noticed something in Seto's eyes. The rest of his face was now blank, but the blue orbs were reflecting something reminiscent of fear. The blonde's own dark eyes widened for a moment. He couldn't believe it.

_Seto Kaiba was latching on to him_. The jerk may have put on a huge show about not caring that he was there, but when the blonde was about to walk out the door, it was serious. Who would have thought the way to gain Kaiba's friendship was to just have him pushed over the edge and committed to a hospital for psychiatric observation?

Joey sighed and leaned against the doorframe. He was still pretty angry with the brunet, but knew that it would be wrong to just abandon him here, no matter how much of an asshole he wanted to be. "Look, Kaiba, I'm still really tired. I just want to go and sleep in an actual _bed_, 'cause that chair wasn't all that comfy. I'll come back later." He paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction, but there was none. "I'm going to Yugi's house, you want me to give them any messages or whatever?"

Seto swallowed and clenched his fists before muttering, "Just give Mokuba a hug for me." He felt horrible that he hadn't hugged the child earlier, when he needed the attention. Although he didn't say that to the blonde, Joey stepped forward and slapped his hand on the brunet's shoulder, squeezing it roughly for a moment before pulling his hand back.

"I got you. See ya later."

Seto watched him leave, and sat silently for a few moments before dragging himself out to the nurses' station.

"Tell the therapist I'm ready to talk to her now. I don't need to wait until tomorrow."

If he was going to be stuck in the unfamiliar hospital all by himself, he might as well be productive. He returned to his room and sat in the chair Joey had been hogging, crossing both his arms and legs, until a young woman walked in. He immediately fixed a glare on her, but she didn't even flinch.

"I'm Lily, your therapist. Will you come with me to my office, please?"

He looked her over for a moment before humoring her and following her to a room on the other side of the floor. Her office was fully of 'zen' objects: a little table fountain, the little Chinese balls that jingle, soft sand in a shallow box with tiny shells in it, all that junk Seto had considered weird. Well, except for the fountain. He actually had one of those on his own desk at work.

She gestured to a leather chair in the corner, positioned across her large mahogany desk. Seto had to admit it was weird being on the 'other' side of the desk, but at least she wasn't here to tell him what to do...not really, anyhow. He sat down, feeling rather tense. She plopped down in her chair and pulled out a yellow legal pad.

"How are you feeling today?" Lily asked gently, brushing a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, unimpressed by the opening line. He watched as she jotted something down on the paper. "What are you writing? It's been five seconds and you've spoken two sentences to me, you can't possibly have found something wrong already."

"Nothing's wrong," she told him patiently. "I'm just making a note of your behavior."

"What am I supposed to do?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Lily looked at him quizzically, then dropped her pen and pushed the legal pad aside before slowly sitting back in her chair. "You're not 'supposed' to do anything...why don't we just start with what happened last night? Start wherever you need to."

"I was working on some important work issues. My brother wanted attention and stuff happened from there."

"Define 'stuff,'" Lily said with a lifted eyebrow. "And I mean the specific stuff pertaining to your situation, not the dictionary's definition." A small smile danced on her lips as a slightly surprised look graced his face

Okay, maybe she was better than he'd originally thought. Still, he did not want to talk about how he attacked his brother, or what set him off. Deep down, he was aware it wasn't just the endless working...but he even knew it was time to suck it up and speak. Mokuba's safety was in question, and he was the problem. If anyone else started to worry about this, there was a very real possibility that he'd lose Mokuba. It was time to take care of that problem.

Seto paused for a bit, and prepared to start at the beginning.


	4. Chapter 4

Daisy

Lily sat back after Seto had told her pretty much everything, from his mother's death to after his adoptive father's suicide. She looked down at the notes she'd taken and nodded, more to herself than him.

"I don't believe that you are an ongoing danger to yourself or anyone else. What happened last night was obviously due to the stress you put on yourself by working too much and not taking care of yourself. I think...that perhaps intense therapy and a couple group therapy sessions would be helpful to you."

Seto scowled. "Oh, no. I'm not going to any group therapy. No way in hell."

Lily paused for a moment. "You might not have a choice."

"And just what does that mean?" he demanded, glaring at her even further.

"Your bodyguard filed assault charges," Lily stated, trying to keep her voice as gentle as possible. "The police showed up early this morning to speak with you, but your doctor managed to talk them down for the time being. Though I understand you could easily afford to make bail and hire the world's greatest attorney, there's a chance they could question your ability to care for Mokuba."

"No one will _ever_ take Mokuba from me," Seto snarled, squeezing the arms of the chair he was in out of anger. How _dare_ Roland do this? "And even if they tried, how could some stupid therapy program stop them?"

"Because in my experience with other cases, the district attorney is almost always more willing to be lenient and to work with you if you've got a plan in place," she told him bluntly. Seto buried his face into his hands for a few minutes, growling, before looking back up at her.

"Fine. How does this work?"

"Well, you're under a seventy-two hour hold, which means you're here for the next couple days, at least. If you attend the group session tomorrow and the next day, then I will report that to the district attorney. You will need to speak to the police upon discharge, however."

"When will I be discharged?"

"I'm shooting for Monday evening," Lily said, gathering her long blonde hair over one shoulder. "So, attend the group session tomorrow afternoon at two and Monday afternoon at three, and I will speak with the psychiatrist about getting you out of here right after that."

"Fine," Seto grumbled, and the therapist dismissed him. He went back to his room and lay back on the bed, staring at the badly drawn daisies spotting the wall behind the chair. Back in his days at the orphanage, he could remember one of the night staff, a young woman named Isabel. She was one of the most compassionate people there, albeit a little 'out there,' so to speak. She was all into things like astrology and being one with nature, and she liked to talk about symbolism. One evening, when Seto couldn't sleep, the two of them had sat outside on the steps, looking at the bed of flowers that decorated the ground around them. He named all the plants growing there, and she'd smiled, then asked what his favorite was. He'd thought about it for a moment before telling her his favorite was the amaryllis. His mother used to like to grow them in flowerpots indoors. Isabel smiled again and said that she liked daisies, because they represented happiness, innocence, and youth, all things that could be ripped away much too quickly and easily.

And despite the fact that Seto had never really believed in what she did, or cared about the symbolism of flowers or anything, at the young age he'd been at the time, he already knew what she meant by that. From then on, he'd hated daisies. They represented everything he'd never really had.

* * *

When Joey had arrived at Yugi's house hours ago, Mokuba had gotten a little frantic, thinking that the two of them had gotten in some major argument already. Joey explained that while the elder Kaiba had gotten a bit of an attitude with him, he really just needed to crash for a few hours, and promised Mokuba that he'd check in on his brother on his way to work. The little Kaiba relaxed a bit, and the blonde delivered the hug from his big brother before clambering up the stairs to Yugi's room, leaving the other two to finish their movie in silence. Afterwards, Yugi spent about an hour and a half pushing Mokuba to eat and finish some soup, before realizing what the real problem was.

"Do you want to call your brother?"

Mokuba nodded and accepted the phone Yugi was holding out to him. After dialing the number to the hospital and confirming who he was, the call was routed to his brother's room.

"What?" Seto's voice was flat and cantankerous, just like how he answered the phone while he was working.

"Seto? It's me," Mokuba said tentatively. "I just wanted to apologize...if you don't want to forgive me, I understand, but-"

"Mokuba. You aren't the one in the wrong here."

The little Kaiba drew in a quick breath. "No, I was wrong with what I said...you're not like him at all, Seto, you have a heart...a really good heart, too..."

Seto sighed on the other end of the line. "How are you feeling? You still sound congested."

"Yeah. I'm still not feeling the best, but the worst part is just always being really tired," Mokuba admitted.

"Well, they're letting me out the day after tomorrow, so when we get home, I'll take care of you before I deal with any of the other issues."

"Other issues?" Mokuba echoed. "What other issues?"

There was a pause before Seto responded. "I'll take care of it when the time comes. There's nothing for you to worry about, Mokuba. It's all right. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Mokuba said softly, and the two hung up. He turned to Yugi and handed the phone back. "I think he's doing a little better, but..."

"It's going to take some more time before he gets all the way better," Yugi said sympathetically. Mokuba shook his head and looked up at Yugi tearfully.

"No…something else is going to happen, Yugi. I can feel it." He shook his head and wiped the tears that were beginning to fall. "This is just the beginning."

* * *

Joey let out a wide yawn as he dragged himself off the elevator when he reached Kaiba's floor. It wasn't quite nine at night, yet the entire hospital seemed to be moving just as slowly as he felt. He checked in with the nurse, then walked over to the secluded little room assigned to the rich guy, knocking twice before entering the room. Seto seemed to have just snapped out of a light doze, judging by the dazed yet sharp look on his face.

"Hey," the blonde said carefully, leaning against the doorframe. "I told Mokuba I'd check in on you before heading off to work the night shift."

Seto smirked and stretched a bit before hoisting himself up to a sitting position. "I wasn't aware that you knew _how_ to work."

"Yeah, yeah," Joey muttered. "So, what do I tell the little guy? You're back to being the mouthy prick we're all used to?"

"Sure," the brunet mumbled. "You do that."

"What's wrong with you now?" Joey asked with a raised eyebrow. "Something's going on."

Kaiba scowled and crossed his arms. "It's none of your business, Wheeler."

"Actually, it became my business when Mokuba called us to the psycho-ward in the middle of the night and I ended up sitting here and watching you sleep the whole time."

"That's not creepy at all."

"My point is, we're right here with you, Kaiba. For some reason. So spill it," Joey insisted, shutting the door behind him and leaning back against it. Seto rolled his eyes and shook his head, which made the blonde groan. "Kaiba..."

Seto heaved a sigh and leaned back again, shutting his eyes. "I'll tell you when I get things figured out. Even I don't know what's going to happen yet, and I don't want anything getting back to Mokuba before I do. He doesn't need to worry about anything else, so stop bothering me about it."

Joey rolled his own eyes and exhaled slowly, burying his face in his hands. "Fine, Kaiba. I'm going to head out to work now. Get some sleep, and I'll stop in when I get off in the morning. I'll talk to you then if you're awake."

"Whatever," Kaiba muttered, slipping under his blankets as the blonde left. But he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for a long while; after all, the possibility of losing Mokuba was presently more real than it had ever been before.

* * *

**Author's Note**: So I chose to leave out Kaiba explaining his story to the therapist, because if you're reading this, I'm sure most of you know by now that both of his parents died when he was very young, their other relatives ate up their inheritance and dumped them off in an orphanage, and their adoptive father was, in short, the devil incarnate. I figured if I wrote about that, it would become too redundant.


	5. Chapter 5

Daisy

Working at a 24/7 coffee shop was never dull, but it was never easy, either. While Joey enjoyed laughing at the half-drunk college kids stumbling in at four in the morning attempting to stave off hangovers and get to a point of minimal drunkenness, he was still obligated to serve these idiots who didn't ever seem to know any better. That night had been particularly draining, and by the time six in the morning rolled around, Joey was absolutely wiped; however, he had promised a certain surly CEO that he'd stop by, and whether Kaiba cared or not, the blonde had to at least have something to tell the little one.

Sunlight was leaking into the stark hospital room through the half-curtained single window when Joey strolled into the room. Seto was sleeping on his side, facing the window, so the ever-considerate blonde walked over to adjust the limp material over the window in order to stifle the sun's glow a bit. Deciding to hang out for a bit in case Seto woke up sometime soon, he plugged his phone into the wall before collapsing into the chair, and into a deep sleep.

About an hour and a half later, Seto awoke to a loud noise resembling something between a busted muffler and a jackhammer. Dazed with being pulled out of a heavy sleep, he blinked a few times before locating a certain dork snoring his head off just a few feet away. He rolled his eyes, half-amused and half-annoyed. He certainly recognized the signs of exhaustion; Mokuba had a tendency to snore up a storm as well when the kid pushed himself well beyond his limits. He slid out of bed and padded over to loom right over Joey. The blonde just kept right on snoring until Kaiba flicked him smartly on the nose; he snorted and spluttered a few curses before sitting up, glaring at the smirking brunet standing in front him.

"_Ow_...what the hell was that for?" he demanded, rubbing his nose.

Seto ignored him and walked back to his bed and sat down. "What time is it?"

Joey grumbled a bit as he fumbled around for his phone, curiosity beating out the impulse to be snarky. "Almost nine." He yawned and stretched while the other man watched with a slight frown.

"Go home and sleep. You can tell Mokuba I'm fine, and that I have my first...meeting...this afternoon."

Joey considered this for a moment, because the thought of a bed sounded extraordinarily appealing. But then he remembered their conversation from the previous night and shook his head.

"Nope. So what's going on with whatever you were talking about last night?" Joey asked, shifting around a bit to face Seto, who threw him a scowl and shook his head.

"I told you, I need to figure that out first by myself, Wheeler."

"Uh...no, you don't. That's what got you here."

Seto let out a growl and continued shaking his head, but Joey made it very clear that he wasn't going to leave. Finally, after internally cursing the mutt for being so damn stubborn and nosy, he sighed.

"Roland is pressing charges because of the...assault. People are questioning my ability to care for my brother."

"What?" Joey yelped. "He was perfectly supportive the other day. What the hell changed?"

Seto had been staring at the wall on the other side of the room, never moving to make eye contact with the other person in the room. He simply shook his head and let out another sigh. "Money, that's all I can think of. Except this particular man has been in my employ long enough that there have been many opportunities for exploiting me for monetary gain. I don't know. Like I said, I have things to figure out before dealing with that."

"Kaiba, you don't have a lot of _time_ before you _have_ to deal with this," Joey pointed out indignantly. "Maybe...maybe something's going on, maybe he's got some sort of financial trouble-"

"Stop," Seto commanded angrily. "This _cannot_ get back to Mokuba, so I want you to drop it as soon as you step out of this room."

"No," Joey told him firmly. "Look, Kaiba, I understand where you're at right now. You're going through a rough time, but you aren't alone, you stubborn asshole."

Seto scowled. "What do you expect me to do while I'm stuck here? There's no reason to get Mokuba all worked up again. He's already sick and dealing with enough right now..." He slammed his fist into the thin hospital mattress. "Because of me. Maybe they're right. Maybe I can't take care of him..."

"Shut up, Kaiba, and calm down," Joey demanded, and ran over to sit beside him. "I know you basically raised Mokuba. He's a fantastic kid, and we all know how much you care about him. You...you just need to deal with what's going on in that head of yours and go on a long vacation, and you'll be fine."

Seto snorted. "It's not quite that simple when the cops are trying to collar me for _assault_."

Joey buried his eyes into the heels of his hands and counted to five slowly before carefully standing up. "Kaiba...just have a little faith here. Just...trust me. I know this girl who's _really_ good with computers, and she could pretty much find anything about anyone. She also happens to owe me a favor. If it makes you feel better, I'll leave Mokuba and Yugi out of it, but I could have her look up stuff on Roland. I'll just tell her it's the favor she owes me, and it's no questions asked."

The brunet groaned. He didn't like any of this, but he was faced with losing Mokuba...that alone needed to come before his pride. He nodded grudgingly and finally looked up at the blonde.

"Fine. Go ahead."

Joey grinned. "We're going to get you through this, Kaiba. But I should go crash first, 'cause otherwise I won't be very productive. I'm going to Yugi's, because I'm not dealing with my dad right now, but I'll try not to let anything slip."

"No," Seto said sharply. "There can't be any _try_." He opened the little drawer on the side of the end table and pulled out a key. "Go sleep at my place, there are bedrooms everywhere, and none of my house staff or guards are there as of now."

Joey hesitated, absorbing how serious this whole situation was to Seto. He nodded and accepted the key. "Do you want me to pick up anything for you?"

Seto shook his head. "No. Just..."

"I know," Joey assured him, rolling his dark brown eyes as he headed out the door. "Do what you've got to do."

* * *

At precisely five minutes to two that afternoon, Seto was in a small room with three other patients and Lily the therapist. The blonde woman gave him a small smile as he entered, which he ignored and took a spot on the other side of the room. Lily turned a sunny grin on the entire room and pulled out her infamous yellow legal pad.

"All right, we have two new members, so let's go around and just say our names. As everybody knows, I'm Lily." She passed the speaking off to the guy on her left. The other two patients were young women, one of which who looked just as ready to leave as Kaiba felt. Lily nodded and welcomed them all before addressing the entire group again. "Now, new members get one free pass on having to speak first, so we'll start with Cole over here, if that's all right?"

Nobody had any problems with that, except for Kaiba, who apparently was going to have to listen to these nobodies spill the life stories. Like he even had the time to give a damn about all of this...


	6. Chapter 6

Daisy

Yugi frowned after his call went to Joey's voicemail for the eighth time. He shot a glance over at Mokuba, who was finally napping on the couch after a long night of tossing, turning, and coughing, and a long morning of wondering how his brother was doing. Obviously something was up with either Joey or Kaiba, or maybe both, and being the worrier he was, Yugi decided to go visit the CEO himself. But he wasn't about to leave Mokuba alone. After a heavy sigh, Yugi dialed Téa's number, knowing that the girl would always be there for him in times like this.

"Hey, Yugi, what's up?" She answered her phone on the first ring, which usually meant she was hanging out at home, playing with her phone anyhow.

"Hi, Téa," he said, keeping his voice low. "Are you busy right now?"

She chuckled a bit. "Of course not. I had dance practice this morning, but I've got nothing planned for the rest of the day. Why? What's up?"

Mokuba shifted a bit on the couch, mumbling something under his breath, but he didn't wake up fully. Yugi walked over to the kitchen to keep it that way before responding. "Can you come over right now? I don't mean to bother you, but I need your help with something..."

There was a slight pause. "Sure...is everything all right, Yugi? You're not usually one to ask for anything."

"I'm okay," he assured her. "I'll explain when you get here." They hung up after Téa promised that she'd be over in a few minutes, and Yugi went back to the living room, where Mokuba had begun struggling to breathe as the coughing overtook him. He rushed to the child's side, pulling him against his chest and thumping him rhythmically on the back; when Mokuba didn't wake up, Yugi placed his hand on the kid's cheeks and forehead, which he discovered were way too hot.

"Is everything all right in here?" Yugi's grandpa had just entered the room from the game shop, on his way to the kitchen to grab sandwiches before returning to count inventory with Tristan. Yugi shook his head, shifting Mokuba against his chest; he'd stopped coughing, but his breathing was forced and strained.

"I think Mokuba's running a high fever, and he's not waking up that easily," Yugi told his grandfather. The old man frowned, and backtracked away from the kitchen and into the bathroom. He returned with a thermometer and sat on the coffee table right in front of the other two.

Solomon held out the thermometer. "You'll have to wake him so we can take his temperature," he told Yugi.

Yugi's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm trying." He gently patted Mokuba on the back, calling his name. The child moaned a little bit, digging his face into Yugi's shoulder and whining about being awakened.

"I know you want to sleep, Mokuba, and we'll let you get right back to resting as soon as we check your temperature," Solomon said, gently pulling Mokuba away from Yugi and setting him into a sitting position on the couch.

Yugi took the thermometer from his grandfather and handed it to Mokuba, who inserted it into his mouth for a few moments before Solomon reached for it. He checked it quickly, and sighed a breath of relief when he read it.

"102.8 degrees," he told Yugi. "It's not too bad, but I'll go grab some acetaminophen if you can get him a glass of water."

Yugi nodded, and the two went and retrieved the items, then administered the medication and water to Mokuba. Yugi turned to his grandpa after helping the child lay down comfortably again, and piling another blanket over him.

"Thanks," he said quietly, as Mokuba had already fallen asleep again. "Téa's on her way over, and I'm going over to see Kaiba. Joey hasn't been answering his phone, so..."

The elder man nodded. "I understand. I'll send her up when she-"

"No need for that," Téa announced cheerfully as she entered the room. "What can I do for you?"

Yugi held a finger to his lips, then grabbed her hand and pointed to Mokuba. Téa frowned when she saw the child sprawled out on the couch, breathing heavily. His face was flushed and there was a light sheen of sweat over his forehead and cheekbones. She turned to Yugi with a puzzled expression.

"Is he sick...? What's he doing here?"

Yugi brought her back to the kitchen. "He's got pneumonia. It's a long story, and I'll catch you up later, but can you keep an eye on him while I go talk to Kaiba? My grandpa's busy with the store and I can't get ahold of Joey-"

"Yugi, where _is_ Kaiba? Is he all right? What's going on?"

Yugi took a deep breath before responding. "Kaiba is...in the hospital. Like I said, it's a long story, but I want to go check on him." He grabbed his jacket. "Mokuba will probably just want to sleep, but if he wakes up, try to get him to drink some water. He's been a little feverish today. Oh, and there's some cough medicine in the kitchen, if he needs it." He paused, trying to think if he'd forgotten something. "I think that's it...see you later."

Téa couldn't help but to smile at how Yugi was reacting, how he seemed reluctant to leave Mokuba's side, even though he was going to help someone else. She'd always admired his gentle, caring soul, but she'd never seen him taking _care_ of someone like this before.

"Bye, Yugi," she said softly, watching him take one last glance at the sleeping child before rushing down the stairs in a hurry.

* * *

Yugi was nervous when he reached the hospital, but relaxed a little when he caught sight of the tall brunet, who was exiting an office followed by a slightly strained-looking blonde woman. Yugi watched as Seto started walking down a hallway, then chased after him, watching as he disappeared into a room, shutting the door with a bit of force but not quite slamming it. The spiky-haired boy hesitated for a few moments before running up to the door and knocking. He heard a couple of expletives before the door opened again, revealing the CEO with that familiar glare. But when Seto saw Yugi standing there, alone, his expression faltered the slightest bit, and he turned around and walked over to sit on the bed.

"Yugi."

"Hi, Kaiba," Yugi responded quietly, walking in and shutting the door behind him. He leaned back against it. "I just thought I should stop by...Joey's not answering his phone, and I wanted to make sure everything is all right."

Seto watched Yugi carefully, unsure of whether or not the blonde had actually followed through on his word or not. He knew perfectly well that Yugi couldn't deceive a person if his life depended on it; however, Seto had invested a large amount of trust in Roland as well, and look where that got him.

_Just another reason to show that everybody is out for themselves_...

But Yugi was watching him with those big, worried, innocent purple eyes, and Kaiba knew that Wheeler had kept his word. He let out a sigh and rubbed his own eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. He'd just had another excruciating therapy session, at the end of which he'd demanded Lily to tell him what was wrong with him. She'd initially said that he shouldn't worry about it, but Seto knew that in order to fix whatever had snapped in his mind, he needed to know what he was dealing with. The woman had finally acquiesced and started talking about something called reactive attachment disorder, explaining that sometimes when young children have unstable or absent parents or other primary caregivers who fail to provide for their emotional and physical needs at a young age, it can turn them into (what she called) "little adults," and also disturb their ability to bond correctly and form lasting healthy relationships. He'd initially scoffed and pointed out that he and Mokuba had gotten along just fine with each other until he'd started working the way he had; Lily had gently brought up the points of his incessant self-reliance, desire to avoid and fear of close relationships, and the fact he didn't particularly trust anyone. She was about to go on, but Kaiba had gotten quite flustered; he was beginning to realize that most everything he'd believed and been taught was wrong, and that this road was going to be longer than he'd originally thought.

_Damn you, Gozaburo_...

"Where's my little brother?"

Yugi paused for a moment, which only served to put a spike in Kaiba's anxiety. "I asked Téa to take care of him for a little while so I could check up on you and Joey. He's still not feeling the greatest."

Kaiba growled and reached over for the phone. "I should call him."

"Um...Kaiba, he was sleeping when I left. He's most likely still asleep...he had a rough night."

"What does that mean?" Kaiba demanded, narrowing his eyes at Yugi, who immediately hastened to calm him down.

"He was coughing a lot, so he didn't sleep very well. Don't worry, Kaiba, I stayed up and took care of him...he's going to be okay, pneumonia just takes awhile to get over." Yugi hesitated and shuffled his feet before continuing. "But I mean, he's your brother, you can call him if you want. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear from you, I just...wanted him to get some rest..."

Kaiba relaxed a little; he wouldn't get mad at Yugi for caring about Mokuba. He dropped the phone and leaned back on his bed. "Tell him he can call later, if he wants."

Yugi nodded and shifted nervously. "So...do you know where Joey is?"

The CEO hesitated and leaned back. His first instinct was to lie through his teeth, and he could have done so easily, smoothly telling Yugi that he didn't know where that stupid blonde was and that he had his own stuff to work on. But there was that itchy, uncomfortable feeling of gratitude, and it was messing with his conscience. He looked squarely into Yugi's eyes.

"Wheeler was whining about needing a nap. I let him go to the mansion."

Yugi shook his head, narrowing his own eyes. "Why wouldn't he have come to my place? It's a lot closer than yours, but I'm more concerned about why he's not answering my phone calls. Kaiba, what's going on?"

"Your friend is helping me with something. I asked him not to talk to you or any of your other little friends about it because I don't want to upset or stress out Mokuba anymore," Kaiba snapped. "And since deception isn't exactly a strong trait in any of you, I asked him to stay away. So all you need to know is that I can assure you that the mutt is safe."

Yugi had to agree with him that none of his friends could lie their way out of a plastic bag, and as uncomfortable as he was with the notion of Joey doing undercover work for someone with as many enemies as Seto Kaiba, the fact was that the CEO had given him his word. And one thing he had come to learn about his old rival was that under all the stone and ice and sarcasm, Kaiba was an honest man. Yugi watched him for a moment, then nodded.

"You wouldn't promise that if he was doing something bad, would you?"

"Of course not," Kaiba replied with a scowl. "He's not doing anything dangerous. Just checking on some information that I need. That's it." Yugi nodded again then relaxed, knowing that he could trust Kaiba. He studied the brunet for a few moments with a softening expression.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked gently, studying Seto's dulled blue eyes, which darted to meet his own eyes for a split second before breaking away again.

"I'm alive."

"You-you're taking care of yourself now, right? You're getting enough rest?" Yugi inquired, genuinely concerned.

"Yes," Seto responded sullenly. "I am."

Yugi hesitated for a few moments, before exhaling a bit. "I'll tell Mokuba," he promised Kaiba, and gave his hand a quick pat before turning around and leaving. Seto remained still, and stared at the hand Yugi had touched for a few moments before reaching for the hospital phone to call his house phone. He was certain that if he hammer-called it enough, the sleeping dog would get the point and answer.


	7. Chapter 7

Daisy

_Stupid Kaiba_.

Joey had been awakened by the sound of the phone repeatedly going off, and after the umpteenth time it rang, Kaiba commanded him to go find out about Roland. He'd only managed to get about four hours of sleep, and yawned as he stumbled off of the bus to the Cherry Condos, a slightly upper-scale complex located in downtown Domino, where the girl who owed him the favor lived. Her name was Lia, and she was from somewhere in California. She was currently attending the local university while her parents continued to pay for her expensive home and pretty much everything else. Joey was slightly jealous, seeing as he hadn't even come up with the security deposit for his own place; however, he was more than aware that it was his own fault after always spending the money he did earn on new Duel Monsters cards and video games.

Accountability was such a bitch sometimes.

He approached the clean glass doors to the building's lobby, and punched in her apartment number. A few moments passed before she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lia, it's Joey. I need your help," he replied, and she laughed.

"All right, I'll buzz you in."

A second later, the door was buzzing. Joey bounced right through all the way up the elevator to the third floor, where he knocked rhythmically on the door. The redhead flung the door open, grinning.

"Hey, Joey, no work today?"

"Nope," he answered cheerfully. "We're closed on Sundays. Hey, listen, remember that time when my buddy Tristan and I changed your tire outside of the coffee shop and you said you owed me a favor?"

She laughed and walked to the fridge, pulling out two cans of cola, and handed one over to Joey. "I'm assuming you're here for that?"

"Actually, yeah, but I need you to do it no questions asked. You said you're good with computers, right?"

Lia raised an eyebrow. "It _is_ my major. What do you need?"

"I need information on a Kaiba Corporation employee," Joey told her. Lia frowned.

"...Joey, I'd love to help you, but from what I've heard, the CEO of that company has quite the temper. I don't want to be held accountable if he finds out that I've been-"

"Lia, I can guarantee you he's all right with this, one hundred percent," Joey interjected. "I know the guy personally, and he's aware of what I'm going to ask you. In fact, he supports it one-hundred percent."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "All right, then, I'll take your word for it. Who are you trying to find the dirt on?" She motioned for him to follow her, and they went into her computer room. The blonde was speechless when he saw the size of her monitor; he was pretty sure it was actually a large flat-screen television.

"Uh...his name is Roland...Roland...actually, I don't know his last name," Joey said, blinking and shrugging. "Hm, go figure."

Lia smirked and tied her long, shiny, red hair back. "Well, I should be able to easily find that in the Kaiba Corporation database," she told him, typing frantically on her keyboard. Joey almost stumbled backwards as words and codes appeared on the screen. He felt as though he was in some sort of hacker movie. "Ah! Here we go, Roland West...told you it was easy."

The blonde nodded dumbly. "Uh...yeah. Sure." Lia chuckled and gestured to the chair beside her.

"Feel free to have a seat...now, what exactly are you looking for?"

Joey hesitated. He didn't want to blab Kaiba's business to her-mostly because he was sure that the guy probably had methods of retaliation Joey didn't even want to know about-but the girl needed to know what she was looking for, and knowing why would probably be a help. He sighed and plopped himself right into the chair.

"So Kaiba had a little...situation, I guess, that happened a couple nights ago, and Roland filed charges against him. And I guess he wants to _sue_ Kaiba, too, so we were thinking of looking for some financial issues, something like that." Joey paused and kicked at a pen on the ground. "I mean, he probably has a case because it's not like he's making anything up to our knowledge...but if he's just out for money, that's just wrong. It's just kind of popping up out of nowhere, you know?"

Lia nodded in agreement. "I'll take your word for it. Let's see if we can find something good for you guys."

The two of them scanned for hours, with Lia breaking into anything she could. Joey knew this was completely illegal, but the main thought tugging in the back of his mind was Mokuba. Sure, the two brothers had just gotten into a big spat, but Joey was sure that if the kid was taken away from Seto, it would just result in another breakdown waiting to happen-if not just another breakdown. Plus, Mokuba needed his big brother, too. It just wasn't feasible to expect one brother to function normally without the other; Joey was pretty sure the term for all of this was "co-dependence," but that was definitely an issue for another day.

Plus, he remembered how upset he was when his mother took his sister and left. Although his life hadn't even been all that complicated yet, that event did contribute to a lot of the bad decisions he'd made after that...

"Hey, I think I've found something interesting..." Lia said, bringing Joey out of his thoughts. "Actually, I found a few interesting things. Look."

Joey blinked and turned his attention to the giant computer. "What's it say? I can't really read it back here, but that's definitely his picture right there."

"Looks like he's probably _really_ strapped for cash...he's got a son who's trying to go to a super expensive college, and another son who's sick."

"Okay, I get the college thing, but get the sick kid some aspirin and call it a night. Problem solved," Joey grumbled. "Don't need to sue a guy for that money."

"No, I mean _really_ sick," Lia said, rolling her eyes at the blonde. "Look at these medical bills...doesn't look like Kaiba Corp offers family members insurance, just the employees."

"Way to go, Kaiba," Joey muttered, squinting while scanning the screen the girl had pulled up, then gasped. "He owes thousands of dollars in doctor's bills...holy crap..."

Lia nodded, then clicked around to print several sheets of paper. She handed them over to Joey. "I think you've got what you need. Are we even now?"

Joey nodded. "Yeah, thanks. You're the greatest."

"Great, perhaps, but not the greatest. If you need anything else, though, don't be afraid to ask."

"Thanks again," Joey repeated, and downed his nearly-forgotten drink before tossing the can into the trash and heading out, papers in hand.

When he reached the hospital, Joey could see Kaiba pacing around in the room through the window before even knocking on the door. The brunet looked extremely anxious and tired, and looked up immediately when Joey opened the door.

"What did you find?" Seto demanded. Joey handed over the papers, frowning.

"Well...this is what we've got," he told him, cringing a bit as those blue eyes grew colder and colder. "What do you want to do?"

Seto growled. "If he needed help...he should have just talked to me. He's been working for me long enough that I would have found a way to assist him. Waiting for an excuse to _sue_ me is despicable." He flipped through the papers, then shoved them back to the blonde and sat on the bed.

Joey swallowed and nodded. "So...have you talked to his lawyer or whatever?"

"No. The doctors and therapists have been holding all those kinds of calls." The brunet cursed a few times before slamming his fists into the mattress. "But I need to deal with this now. Otherwise...if something happens with Mokuba..." His eyes flashed dangerously as he glared up at Joey, who placed his hand on the doorknob and closed it.

"Kaiba. We're not going to let anything happen to Mokuba. You've got to at least trust me on that," he said quietly, leaning back against the wall.

Seto leapt to his feet and knocked over the table beside his bed, shattering the lamp and sending papers all across the floor. Unfortunately, this alerted the nurses and doctors hanging out at the station right outside his door, and they came flooding into the room at his outburst.

"What's going on?" one of the nurses asked, looking from Joey to Kaiba. The blonde shook his head while Seto glared at them.

"None of your business," he snarled, and drew back as one of the doctors stepped forward, and started spouting some profanity at him. Another doctor told a nurse to go grab something for him, and Joey froze back in the corner of the room, dark eyes widening when the nurse reappeared with a syringe full of medicine.

"Is that really necessary?" he cried over the crowd of medical people. "He's just worried about his brother..."

Kaiba tried shoving a doctor away, only to be pulled and restrained by a male nurse, who injected the medicine into him. A moment later, Kaiba's lanky form melted into his arms, unconscious, and was placed on the bed. They put the bed restraints on, so its occupant couldn't leave. Everyone then left the room, leaving Joey staring after them in disbelief with a wide-open mouth.

After a few moments, the blonde shook his head angrily. It just seemed so wrong, how quickly they reacted. He understood the need to take precautions, but Joey felt that he could have easily calmed Kaiba down himself. Several minutes later, there was a quick knock on the door, snapping Joey out of his head. Dr. Kurata entered, a solemn expression on his face.

"Mr. Wheeler," he greeted, with a quick nod. Apparently, Seto must have said something to him at some point, as last time this doctor had been around, Joey was completely ignored.

"Why were they so quick to knock him out again...?" he asked, shaking his head again. "He was upset, but not exactly violent...at least, not until another doctor tried to grab him."

Dr. Kurata was checking Kaiba's eyes and heartbeat, but nodded as he removed the restraints from his wrists and ankles. "With Mr. Kaiba, I believed it was better to be safe than sorry, especially with his state of mind." He straightened up and looked right at Joey. "Feel free to stick around, but he's going to be out for a long time. He was given a stronger medication this time, but I have no objection to you being here...what exactly got him upset?"

Joey hesitated, not wanting to tell the man that it was news he had personally delivered.

"Uh...he was worried about Mokuba. The kid's sick and all..." the blonde blabbered, shrugging. "I guess everything kind of piled up on him again."

The doctor nodded. "He'll have to stay an extra day, but then I'll make sure he's released then. Let me know if anything changes here." He handed his card to the blonde. Joey nodded.

"All right."

The doctor left, and Joey went back to his chair next to the bed. Before sitting down, he threw the blankets over Kaiba's slender body, and watched him sleep for a moment. His face was completely slack, and his mouth hung open. He breathed loudly through it, making a small strange noise every few breaths. Joey frowned and slid into the chair, and sent Yugi a reluctant text message to notify him of the situation.

_Setbacks happen_, Joey tried to reason with himself. _At least he knows what Roland might want, and that means we might have a better shot at keeping those two brothers in the same house._


	8. Chapter 8

Daisy

Yugi sighed with relief when he saw that Joey had sent him a message, but the sigh caught in his throat when he actually read it.

_Kaiba freaked out again. Got shot up with more meds. Out like a light for now. Update tomorrow._

Well, at least he kept it short and to the point. Yugi had so many more questions, though, but he figured it was best not to call Joey at the moment. Instead, he just sent a message back thanking the blonde for the update. Téa had just finished throwing an extra blanket over Mokuba, who was already half-asleep. It was only going on about eight or so in the evening, but the poor kid was obviously completely out of it. But it was good for him to rest, so neither of them objected when Mokuba said he'd rather go to bed than watch another movie or play a game.

"Do you need anything else, Mokuba?" Yugi asked softly, not wanting to startle him at all. The child rolled over onto his back to look up at the spiky haired boy, shaking his head slowly.

"No...I'm okay," he mumbled tiredly. "How's my big brother? Did you hear from Joey?"

Yugi paused, but forced a smile. "Yeah. He's been working on things today."

Mokuba nodded, too weak to press for more information. "Night, Yugi..."

"Good night, Mokuba," he replied, looking over at Téa, who was smiling lightly. She switched on the space heater, which made a comforting little whirring sound as it came to life, then walked with Yugi to the doorway, shutting off the light as they headed down the hall to the staircase. Once the two were in the living room, she turned to Yugi.

"So what's really going on with Kaiba?"

Yugi smiled tiredly up at her. They never could hide things very well from each other. "Did Mokuba tell you anything?"

She shrugged. "Bits and pieces. I know he's been having a hard time, but that's about it."

"Well...aside from what's already been going on, it sounds like something else happened tonight. That's what I was looking at on my phone, Joey sent a message. He didn't elaborate, though," Yugi told her with a quiet sigh. "I just know that they put Kaiba out again."

Téa shook her head sadly. "Well...I hope everything turns out all right." She gave Yugi a quick hug. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thanks," the spiky haired boy said with a smile. "I appreciate it." He walked her out the front door, before deciding to call it a night himself and returning to his own room. Mokuba was practically snoring already, and Yugi took care to adjust the child's blankets one last time before climbing into the other bed, only to lie awake and stare at the dark ceiling, swimming in his thoughts.

* * *

"So I heard you had quite the rough time yesterday afternoon."

Seto was sitting in the therapist's office the next morning, still terribly drowsy. He felt as though his mind was there, but his body was floating somewhere on the other side of her sleek mahogany bookcase. All he could do was nod, and watch the blonde woman lazily as she scribbled something on her pad of paper.

"Would you like to tell me about it?"

Seto shrugged as best he could, stifling a yawn. "Found out an employee wants to blackmail me. I remembered that people want to take my brother away..."

Lily gently set her pen down and shook her head. "No one _wants_ to take Mokuba away from you...they just want to make sure that you're okay to take care of him, and that you're taking care of yourself as well." She paused to flip through some computer notes for a moment. "It looks like that group therapy wasn't exactly your cup of tea."

"...Of course it wasn't."

"Well, I think I might have a better idea. I will have you discharged this afternoon, if you can agree to a couple conditions," the woman said, carefully scrutinizing Kaiba's worn face, which immediately looked more alert at the word 'discharge.'

"What are these conditions?" he asked suspiciously.

"I will allow you to be discharged as long as you can find a person to support you for the first several days that you are back home," she told him. "Especially since your brother is ill. You both have a lot of healing to help each other with, mostly regarding your relationship."

Seto considered this. He really did not want any members of the Dork Patrol around his mansion, but there was so much he still needed to deal with...Roland, the police, and whatever else might be coming up. He began to nod when the blonde woman continued.

"I also would like you to continue some outpatient therapy for at least three months following your discharge. If you'd like, I can refer you to someone else, but you have the option to remain with me," she told him.

"Fine," Kaiba grumbled. "I'll comply."

"Great. Let me start your papers while you give your friend a phone call," Lily told him, pretending not to see him bristle at the word 'friends.'

* * *

Yugi did not sleep well at all that night. He'd fallen into an extremely light sleep quite late, and was awakened very early by a phone call from Joey, who wanted to see if he could come crash since the chair in Kaiba's hospital room wasn't comfortable enough. So he'd given Joey his bed and went out to catch a couple hours on the couch, until his phone rang later that some morning.

"Hello...?" he answered drowsily, rubbing his drooping violet eyes.

"Yugi. I need you to do me a..._favor_."

Only one person could spit out a word that benign with so much distaste. Yugi stifled a yawn before responding.

"Kaiba?"

"Yes. They're discharging me at ten this morning, but in order for this to happen, I need for you and Wheeler to spend some time at the mansion."

"Both of us? Why?" Yugi asked, blinking rapidly to wake himself up more. Maybe he wasn't hearing correctly.

"Because Wheeler's helping me with something else and Mokuba's comfortable with you taking care of him. You will have access to the entire mansion, including Mokuba's game room, the pools, the hot tub, everything. The bedrooms are already completely furnished, so all you need to bring with you are whatever you personally need or want."

Yugi let out a slow, silent breath before speaking. He glanced at the clock, which told him it was quarter after nine in the morning. "All right, Kaiba. I'll wake Joey and Mokuba, and we'll meet you at your place. All right?"

"Fine," Kaiba grumbled, then hung up. Yugi sighed and stuffed his cell phone into his pocket, then walked up to his bedroom. Mokuba and Joey were snoring in counterpoint to each other; Joey's snoring was loud and content, while Mokuba's was stuffy and quieter. Yugi went over to Joey first, and roughly shook him on his shoulder.

"Joey...Joey, wake up, we've got to get going."

The blonde groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. "What's wrong?"

"We've got to get over to the Kaiba mansion. You've got the truck, right?"

Joey yawned and nodded. "Yup, got it right in back." He stretched and sat up, glancing over at Mokuba. "Man, that kid's out cold."

"Yeah," Yugi said quietly. "Can you pick him up without waking him and bring him out to the truck? I'm going to pack some clothes to take over. You should grab some, too, later on."

The blonde, who had just stumbled to his feet, groaned as he slid on his sneakers. "Ugh...I haven't been to my dad's in _days_...wonder what I'm going to find when I get there."

Yugi looked at him sympathetically. "Just...grab some clothes and sneak out. Maybe go by later tonight, when he's not home..."

"Good idea," Joey said under his breath, scooping the sick child into his arms. Mokuba sneezed in his sleep, spewing mucus and drool all over Joey's shoulder. Yugi failed to suppress a giggle at his friend's horrified expression, but waved him out.

"Go get him into the truck," Yugi managed while chuckling. "You've still got a clean shirt you left over here a couple weeks ago, just come back and change once he's situated."

"Man...Kaiba owes me at _least_ half of his salary for the year," Joey grumbled, but he wrapped Mokuba into a blanket, preparing him for the cold December air. Yugi smiled lightly, but he knew that there was still a whole lot to figure out before Joey would be able to barter for any sort of payment or gratitude.

* * *

Seto had just finished changing out of those horrid hospital scrubs and into his normal clothes. He had just slipped into his shoes when there were three loud raps on the hospital door. Two men in suits walked in, frowning.

"Seto Kaiba?"

"Obviously..." he retorted. "What's all this?"

"I'm Detective Isei Maeda. Mr. Kaiba, you are under arrest for the assault of Roland West. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say can and will be used against you. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you..."

**Author's Note**: Yes, I'm aware that the Miranda warning probably does not apply in Japan. But I'm not entirely sure how the legal system works over there, so let's just say this takes place in the ambiguous dub location. Plus, I've always wanted to use that little schpiel. Until next update! :)


	9. Chapter 9

Daisy

When Joey finally unlocked the truck doors, he told Seto he needed to go take care of some stuff, and the brunet rolled his eyes and entered the mansion alone. He let out a long, heavy sigh, before leaning back against the front door. It was quiet, and for the first time, the typically welcoming silence was screaming in his ears louder than the geek convention cheering for Yugi during a duel. A heavy thumping in his chest was the only thing more unnerving than the complete lack of noise surrounding him. For the past few days, Seto had wanted nothing more than to reunite with his little brother and fix things between them. But now that the chance was here, he felt something pulling him away from the child.

_This is ridiculous_, Seto scolded himself. _He's your little brother_. _You owe him_.

He forced himself up the stairs; when he reached the stretch of hallway leading to the bedrooms, voices and music started wafting into his ear canals, and when Seto found himself right outside Mokuba's door, he knew he'd also located the source of the noise. The kid was watching television, and Seto faintly recognized the music as belonging to his favorite show. He knocked gently, but when there was no response, he frowned and pushed the door open.

Yugi and Mokuba were lounging side by side on the bed, chatting happily. They had been giggling at whatever was going on in the show, but had fallen silent and serious as Seto entered the room. Yugi drew in a deep breath and slid off the bed, immediately knowing what Seto wanted to do.

"I'll give you guys some space," he murmured, and scurried by the taller man and out the door. The brunet shut the door behind him before facing Mokuba, who had just turned off his TV.

Seto's heart was pounding loudly as he stood there, motionless, unsure of how to approach this. Mokuba, on the other hand, launched himself off the bed and threw his arms around his big brother's waist.

"Seto..." Mokuba said, unable to say more after failing to suppress ensuing tears. After a few seconds, Seto unfroze, lifting Mokuba into his arms and bringing him back to the bed. He held his brother tightly, burying his face into Mokuba's dark hair while the child sobbed into his shoulder. After a few minutes, Mokuba drew back, revealing a tear and snot-streaked face, attempting to wipe both away. Seto almost chuckled at the sight, but merely reached over and grabbed a box of tissues that he definitely had not left on the nightstand. He pulled out a wad and held them up to Mokuba's cherry-colored nose.

"Blow, kiddo," Seto instructed, his voice much softer and gentler than the other could even remember it being. Mokuba obliged, and after Seto had successfully cleaned up both his nose and his tears, he tossed the tissues into the little garbage basket near the wall. "Mokuba, I'm so sorry."

"No, I am," Mokuba said, wiping away the new tears prickling at his eyes. "I was being stupid when I said you were like...like _him_. I was just angry, and it was the dumbest thing I've ever said. Your heart is too good, no matter what anybody thinks, or what _you_ think, and you understand things he never could. Like love and compassion and stuff. You have all of it in you, Big Brother. Whenever someone calls you a jerk or something like that, it always bothers me, because that have no idea what you've been through, or...you know..."

"And I'm sorry that I haven't been here for you, Mokuba," Seto immediately interjected shortly after the kid had trailed off. He pulled his little brother into his arms once again. "You haven't been feeling well at all for the past week, and I should have been by your side more helping you get better as quickly as possible. Instead, I got all caught up in some senseless work while the maids just drugged you and gave you Kleenex," he spat lividly, more upset with himself than with the house staff.

Surprisingly unfazed by Seto's sudden show of anger, Mokuba leaned his head comfortably against his big brother's chest, yawning. "I just want you to be happy."

Seto pulled back the blankets and placed Mokuba beneath them before lying down next to him. Mokuba curled up right alongside him, and the elder brother rolled onto his side to drape an arm over the younger Kaiba.

"I want to be happy, too, Mokuba..." Seto whispered, almost inaudibly, not entirely comfortable with saying so. But he owed his brother that token of vulnerability, especially after having been so inhuman for the past week.

But Mokuba just snuggled closer and nodded, mumbling something incoherent. Seto cuddled quietly with his brother, and knew the exact second the child fell asleep. He held him for another hour or so before carefully pulling away, slipping out from the covers, and tucking Mokuba in tightly before silently leaving the room. Across the hall, he saw that the door to a bedroom was open and that light was spilling out into the dark hallway, with low voices emanating from inside. Joey must have returned, and he and Yugi were talking. Sighing, Seto turned around, and headed to his own bedroom, suddenly feeling very alone. He shed his suit from court and tossed it on the floor carelessly, replacing the starchy set with a pair of his silky gray pajamas.

After lazily taking his socks off with his toes, Seto walked over to his bed and threw back the covers before crawling under them. For the first time, he didn't care that it was just barely eight in the evening. His bed was big and soft and inviting, and he couldn't for the life of him remember why he'd refused to use it for so long just a little while ago. Unfortunately, as soon as he was lying in the dark room, the fears and anxiety of his life started filling his head. Seto growled into the darkness, and reached over into his nightstand, where some rarely-used sleep aids resided. He dumped a hefty amount into his hand and somehow managed to dry-swallow them, ignoring the uncomfortable lump that remained in his chest and the bitter taste in his mouth. After a short while, he started feeling the pleasant dizziness envelop him, before it swallowed him whole into the dark mouth of irresistible sleep.

* * *

"Did you get everything, then?" Yugi asked after Joey had finished explaining why he was currently sporting a large gash on his left cheekbone.

"Yeah," the blonde winced, wiping blood away from from his eye. "My dad passed out right after we were done fighting...might've hit his head on something. I don't know, didn't look back." Yugi walked over and with a damp, soapy cloth, began to gingerly siphon off some dried blood from his face. Joey cringed but didn't pull away.

"It looks like it'll be okay, Joey," he told his friend soothingly, pulling out another towel and patting the wound dry, albeit uncertainly. "But it's good that you thought to bring your own towels."

Joey snorted, and a small sardonic smile flitted across his face. "Yeah...I'd hate to get eau de me all up in Kaiba's thousand-dollar pieces of fabric...speaking of which, where is Kaiba? If he skips town, _I'm_ the one in trouble."

"Well, last I knew, he went to talk to Mokuba," Yugi said, and handed the towel to Joey. He stood up and walked across the hall, placing his ear against Mokuba's door. He heard no voices, and only when he opened the door did he see that the child was asleep, and that Seto wasn't there. But he heard other sounds coming from the adjacent bedroom, and was glad that he'd listened to Mokuba and cracked the door open earlier.

When he poked his head through it, he saw that the elder Kaiba was also asleep, stretched out in his own bed and groaning loudly. He flipped over onto his side, grinding his teeth. Yugi glanced over to make sure Mokuba hadn't woken up from the noise, then slipped through the door, closing it softly behind him. He crept over to the bed, noting the bottle of pills sitting on the stand before gently reaching out to shake Seto's shoulder. The brunet didn't wake, but he did seem to calm down a little at the contact. Still, Yugi wasn't entirely convinced, and tried shaking him again.

"Kaiba? Are you all right?" he asked, keeping the volume of his voice at normal conversation level. The brunet rolled over onto his stomach, breathing heavily, obviously still asleep. Yugi moved his hand off of his shoulder, then turned on the lamp on the table. He picked up the pills next to the lamp, realizing that they were actually just the sort of allergy medication that had a tendency to make a person terribly sleepy. He figured that Kaiba must have just opened a new bottle, too, judging by the wad of discarded cotton and half of the seal still sitting on the table. It was also clear that he'd taken quite a bit, but Yugi knew he'd be fine after sleeping it off.

Another unintelligible yet distraught noise escaped Seto's clenched jaws, and Yugi let out an uncharacteristic frustrated growl before shaking him roughly on the back between his shoulders.

"_Kaiba_," he pressed indignantly, "You need to wake up."

Joey rushed in through the hall door, one hand still holding his face. "What's wrong?"

Seto turned over, finally awake, and struggled to push himself up into a sitting position; his body felt quite weak and his head felt like it wasn't really connected to the rest of him. He also wasn't entirely sure that Yugi Muto had been the one to wake him up, or that the dumb blonde was looming over the foot of his bed with a bloody face. Apparently, diphenhydramine overdose wasn't his greatest idea of the day after all.

"What...what do you want..." his speech was pretty slurred, but there was still a slight menacing tone to his voice. Yugi stood straighter, blinking for a moment.

"You must have been having a bad dream...don't you remember?" Yugi asked nervously, glancing over at Joey before meeting hazy (but glaring) blue eyes again.

Of course he remembered. Nightmares had plagued him for a very long time, but had mostly ceased after Battle City a few years ago. At the time, he thought that meant he'd dealt with his issues, since sleep had become easier to get for the first time since his mother had died. He had started to feel better both emotionally and physically, but it wasn't until the last month or so that he realized something was bubbling to the surface, something unpleasant, and instead of exploring or dealing with these feelings, he elected to immerse himself into work and pretend it wasn't happening.

That didn't work out too well, as all of Seto's current predicaments clearly proved. He didn't respond, but Yugi didn't really expect him to. The spiky-haired boy let out a silent breath before continuing

"I heard you making noise while I was checking on Mokuba, and it was hard to wake you up...but I just wanted to make sure you're all right."

"I'm fine," Seto muttered, blinking rapidly. The sleepiness was disappearing, and things were starting to look clearer, much to his disappointment. He looked up at Yugi, whose pure compassion and sympathy was starting to make him nervous. Then he shifted his gaze to Joey, noticing the cut on his face for the first time. "Who the hell did you pick a fight with this time?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Joey shot back irritably, expecting Seto to start with him; however, the elder Kaiba was simply thankful for having a reason to brush Yugi off.

"There's medicine for that in the bathroom," he told the blonde pointedly, kicking back the sheets. Or at least, he was _trying_ to kick them back, but the material caught around the ankle bracelet, exposing it to Yugi for the first time. Seto growled, ignored the sad look on his face, tore the blankets off, and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. Yugi turned to Joey, who had sighed and sat on the edge of Seto's bed.

"Sorry. I forgot to mention the bracelet thing. But at least he didn't have to worry about bail, or you know..._jail_."

"It's okay, you've been through a lot today. It just surprised me," Yugi assured him. "I'm sure it's bothering him more than he's letting on, though."

"Yugi," Joey said ruefully, smiling tiredly. "Everything is bothering him more than he's letting on."

"Well, I know that," Yugi said with a sigh. "I just wish we could make this all stop somehow."

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Seto returned with some ointment, a package of little antiseptic wipes, and a butterfly closure-at the same time Mokuba opened the door, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Seto, I don't feel well..." he mumbled miserably, before opening his eyes fully. "What's on your foot?"

The elder brother froze for a moment before glancing down. The black plastic of his ankle bracelet stood out in heavy contrast against both the light gray of his pajama bottoms and the pale complexion of his bare feet. He didn't answer, but Mokuba wasn't going to give up anytime soon.

"Is that an ankle bracelet? Are you on _house arrest_?" Mokuba's voice was getting louder and more worried with each word. Seto paused to empty his hands then turned to his little brother.

"Don't worry, Mokuba, it's being handled."

The raven-haired child was gaping at Seto as though he'd lost his mind all over again. "Stop talking to me like I don't know anything and tell me the truth. Why do you have to wear _that_?"

"I don't want to stress you out, so just let it go," Seto insisted. "I've got it under control."

"Nothing is under control right now!" Mokuba pointed out angrily. "Every single thing happening right now is so far out of control, including _you_. Seto, I'm not some fragile little kid, I'm strong and capable, and you know this. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I'm stronger than you are, so stop using the kid gloves on me like I can't..." He didn't complete his sentence, unless he was going to say 'can't breathe or stand on my own,' because at that very second, he began to cough and gasp for air, stumbling forward and grabbing for the doorframe to steady himself but completely missing it. Yugi was the one standing closest to the kid, but wasn't the one to catch him; Seto was. However, Yugi _was_ the one to run into Mokuba's bedroom, grab the box of tissues, and start pounding him on the back while instructing him to cough up the stuff from his lungs into the wad of tissues being held in front of his mouth.

Mokuba managed to do so, then hung limply in his brother's arms as he was brought over to Seto's bed, where he was set down. Yugi tossed out the tissues and went back to support Mokuba, who had made it very clear that he did not want to be held or comforted by his brother. He did lean into Yugi, who gently rubbed his back as Seto sat down directly in front of the little Kaiba.

"You're right. About all of that," Seto said, keeping his voice as calm and steady as he possibly. "But you're also sick, and I wanted you to focus on getting well...which meant to avoid stressing you out."

"Yeah, Seto. You've done a real good job with that," Mokuba said bitterly.

Joey frowned. He could understand why Mokuba was angry. The kid felt like his big brother was purposely leaving him out of things that very much involved him, not to mention he was still obviously way under the weather. But he also was beginning to really be able to comprehend Kaiba's thoughts and feelings; which was weird and scary, but he honestly couldn't say he'd do any differently with Serenity.

"Hey, Mokuba..." Joey cut in, stepping forward. "I know you're upset and not feeling well and all, so if it helps, I want you to know your brother's not alone in this. I've been helping him with the situation."

Mokuba's face softened a little at that, and he blinked at Joey. "What exactly is the situation?"

"Roland is pressing charges against me for assault," Kaiba responded, before Joey could say anything. "Apparently I injured him during the...incident. Wheeler and I are looking into what we can do."

Mokuba frowned. "Seto, you never hit him at all."

The other three all blinked, and Seto stiffened.

"What?"

"You never hit Roland. As soon as he got you off of me, he had you pinned underneath him until the ambulance came. He's stronger than you, so it's not like you were able to break free at all. I mean, you struggled against him, but you never hit him. I was watching the whole time," Mokuba explained, and watched as they all exchanged looks. Kaiba turned back to Mokuba and held out his arms. The younger brother tried to act all angry still, but couldn't suppress a smile, and crawled over into the hug.

"Mokuba, I'm sorry, and thank you so much," Seto whispered into black hair. He planted a very subtle kiss on the kid's forehead as they broke apart, causing Mokuba to smile even more widely.

"See? I can handle things, even if I'm sick."

"I see this," Seto said, "but you still need to sleep. Go back to bed. I promise I'll ask you if I need something."

Mokuba nodded and went back to his room, and Yugi went to get him some medicine, since that was what he'd come for in the first place. Kaiba turned back to look at Joey.

"Do you know how to use a butterfly stitch?"

"A butterfly what now?"

He rolled his eyes and gestured to the spot in front of him. "Just sit down so I can fix your face."

Joey followed the gesture, but looked at him skeptically. "What the hell is a butterfly stitch and what do you even mean by fixing my face?"

Kaiba didn't answer right away; he merely cleaned up the area and put on a little ointment before producing a long, white bandage-looking thing that was vaguely butterfly shaped in that both ends of the thing fanned out a bit like wings, while the center was a slender rectangle.

"Hold still," he instructed, and quickly applied it right under Joey's eye. "That gash wasn't deep, but it was gaping. You wouldn't need actual stitches but would have had a hell of a scar. The thing I just put on your face will hold it together so it can heal better, hopefully, and reduce any scarring."

"...Thanks," Joey said awkwardly, watching Kaiba throw out the wrappings and then gather the rest of the supplies as he thought about something. "Hey...Kaiba...you're a paranoid guy..."

"Get to the point, Wheeler."

"Well, I'm sure you can access the Kaiba Corp security videos from home, right? Archives and all?"

"Yes. Again, what is your point?" Kaiba asked flatly.

The blonde stood up and followed the brunet as he went to put the medical stuff away. "Well...that night, when Roland asked Yugi to take Mokuba, he said it was because of something that happened at Kaiba Corp. What if he got hurt there instead, and is pinning this off on you to get more money? I mean, he is suing, too, right?"

"He is," Seto confirmed, eyes widening. "All right, then. Let's go and look at the videos, but it's going to take awhile. Probably all night. There are a lot of cameras all throughout the building."

"I don't doubt that, Rich Boy," Joey said cheerfully. "I'll go let Yugi know...but I'll be the one helping you. He should get some rest tonight, since he hasn't been sleeping much the past few days. I know he's smarter and all, but-"

"Wheeler, that's all fine. Just get on with it," Seto said, sighing. He stuffed everything into the cabinet, then turned back to the blonde. "I'll go get my laptops. Meet me in the lounge downstairs."

"All right," Joey said, vaguely questioning just how many laptops a rich computer nerd like Seto Kaiba would have. Not that any of that was important in this situation, but still...it was a valid question, right?


	10. Chapter 10

Daisy

Yugi woke up extra early the next morning to go see if Joey and Seto had found anything. He'd wanted to help them as well, but Joey insisted that Yugi go to bed and sleep for the night. It didn't take much convincing, though, since Yugi hadn't slept much lately and was beyond exhausted. The bedroom was still dusky, and the clock on the dresser told him it was just going on five-thirty in the morning. He yawned and stretched, then tumbled out of bed and into the hallway. Before going downstairs, he stopped to check on Mokuba, who still appeared to be fast asleep. Satisfied that he was okay, Yugi continued down the stairs, where he found Seto sitting on the couch, staring at his laptop. Joey was passed out on the other end of the couch, slumped over with his arms tossed over his head and his shirt bunched up just above his navel.

"Hey, Kaiba," Yugi said quietly, wandering past Joey to sit next to the brunet in the middle of the sofa. Kaiba acknowledged him with a quick glance, but otherwise didn't say anything. Yugi shifted nervously, looking over at the sleeping blonde before saying anything else.

"Can I help? It might go faster."

Seto leaned over and pulled the laptop Joey had been using off the coffee table, booted the system up, and handed it to Yugi. He briefly explained that Joey had been looking at the cameras on floors 1-8, while Kaiba took the all basement cameras and floors 9-14. Yugi nodded, and started watching the videos.

"So how long did Joey stay awake?" Yugi asked after awhile, slightly amused as the blonde started mumbling something about some video game in his sleep.

Seto smirked slightly and shifted his screen to the next floor, adjusting the view. "Up until about an hour ago."

Well, that was probably better than either of them had expected. The shorter duelist smiled a bit and returned to watching in vain for a little while before trying to offer _some_ good news. "I think Mokuba's starting to get a little better. The past few nights he's been waking up almost every hour, but I think he finally slept through the night."

"I'm aware of that," Seto responded after a quiet moment. "I checked on him several times." He stopped the video he was scanning through and placed the laptop on the coffee table. Yugi watched him curiously, unsure of what to do or say.

"I noticed you left your door open last night."

Yugi blinked, confused, but nodded anyhow. "Well, if Mokuba needed something while you guys were working, I wanted him to know I was there..."

"...I know." Seto paused again. "Thank you for being there for him. You will be compensated for your time."

"I don't want compensation, Kaiba, no matter what you mean by that..." Yugi said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I don't want anything from you."

Seto closed his eyes for a moment, attempting to kill his frustration and the horrible sensation of gratitude. "Yugi, as I've been told, you've taken care of my brother like I should have. I highly doubt anybody else would have been there for Mokuba to the extent that you were."

"That's not true, I'm sure that you've got someone on your staff who would have cared for him-"

"No, not like you did, they wouldn't have, and I know this because even _I_ wasn't there for him." Seto finally glanced at Yugi out of the corner of his eye, and realized that the typically pacific duelist was actually full-on glaring at him; oddly, a proud feeling flared up somewhere deep inside the brunet, and he would have started cackling if he hadn't been so set in his serious demeanor.

"You know how you can compensate me, Kaiba?"

"Hnh."

"Next time you need help, ask me," Yugi said, turning back to the video. "We always get involved after you're in too deep, but maybe if you came to me first, we could help before things get so serious. Wouldn't asking for help early on help things go smoother in the end?"

"No. That won't be necessary. I never ask for help."

"Why?"

Seto shot him a quick look of surprise before covering it with a scowl. For years, the whole little group had been shaming him on his complete disregard and ridicule of friendship, but to his memory, none had ever really asked Yugi's question until now. Not that it would have ever done much good before, but still. He remembered how furious they used to make him, but deep down, they hurt him when they scolded his attitude. They didn't understand why he couldn't trust people, or open up to anybody. Kaiba let out an impatient breath and crossed his arms over his chest tightly.

"Yugi, I'm grateful to you for taking care of my brother, but I don't need anyone to take care of me."

"...I think you do."

Yugi's voice was as quiet and gentle as ever, but it dripped with a point. Seto tried to ignore him, but something wouldn't let that happen. He had picked up the laptop and resumed the surveillance videos again, but he couldn't focus on it. He slammed the laptop shut, and turned to fully face Yugi.

"I never ask for help because I've learned that it's just a waste of time. Not just from Gozaburo, but from literally every other person I've ever trusted in my life. After my mother died, my father proved to be a useless parent. In fact, I'm still not entirely convinced that the "accident" he died in _was_ an accident." Kaiba flung his laptop into the wall furiously, where it shattered, and sound of the impact caused Joey to wake up with a start and fall off the couch. "Every single person from then on has done everything in their power to get rid of me, or exploit what I've worked so hard to gain, or just steal it from me. Excuse me if I'm not exactly ecstatic to jump on the damn Friendship Express."

"Kaiba, what the hell did I say to you about being rude to Yugi?" Joey growled, leaping from the floor to his feet and moving to loom above Kaiba. But Yugi held up his hand and shook his head at the blonde, signaling he wanted Kaiba to go on, and the brunet did as though Joey hadn't even spoken.

"Gozaburo forced me into studying and working day in and day out, with no sleep most days and _never_ a break. Trust me when I say that friends have always been the last thing on my mind. Nobody will ever understand what I've been through, and don't even try, because you won't. You're not..._broken_ enough. You could never understand, Yugi."

Tears of compassion unwittingly filled Yugi's eyes, but he managed to get rid of them before looking back at the suffering brunet, who was trembling with rage as he gripped the side of couch.

"You're probably right. Maybe I can't understand exactly what you've been through," Yugi practically whispered, wringing his hands in his lap as images of the bullies from school flooded his mind. He had his friends to help him with those demons, and he truly could not fathom how Kaiba survived his own demons without anyone to lean on. "But I know that you know I've never tried to use you or take anything from you. Plus, when Pegasus, your board members, and Dartz tried to get rid of you, I was there to _save_ you. I don't expect you to suddenly be my best friend. But I do expect you to know that I'm not going to try anything to hurt you."

Seto's eyes were unreadable, and he turned away and fixed them on the shattered laptop before standing up and stepping back.

"I know you couldn't harm a fly, Yugi."

His voice was flat and cold, but he meant what he said. He trusted Yugi, but wasn't interested in investing that trust. It simply just never worked out well in the end. The three of them remained silent for a few moments before Yugi spoke again.

"Kaiba...why don't you go lie down for a little while? You look like you could use a break. Joey and I can go through the last few surveillance videos."

The brunet just grumbled and walked away, too emotionally drained to even argue. The other two watched him leave, sitting in silence for a moment before Joey slapped his arm around Yugi and gave his shoulders a quick squeeze.

"He's just a jerk, Yug. Don't feel bad about it."

"He's not and I don't," Yugi said softly, still feeling the despair from Kaiba. "He needed to vent, and now I think he needs some alone time. Let's just watch these cameras."

The blonde ran a hand through his messy hair, frowning as Yugi started zoning out into the cameras. He joined him, and a few more hours went by before anything happened. Even though they weren't really concentrating on the videos, neither missed when Roland finally turned up on the screen.

"Wow, he sure took his sweet time..." Joey muttered, and Yugi made a noise of agreement. "Who's this woman? Does she work for Kaiba?"

"Uh...hold on," Yugi said, zooming in on a chubby blonde woman's face. "I don't recognize her."

The video continued to play, and the two people on the screen started making all kinds of wild gestures, obviously arguing. That went on for a while until Roland turned around to storm away, but the blonde chased after him, drawing a pistol.

"Next room, hurry up!" Joey urged, and Yugi hastened to do so. As it turned out, the "next room" was outside; unfortunately, it wasn't an area outdoors at Kaiba Corp that consisted of any cameras. The two sat there and stared at each other until the blonde stood up.

"Okay, Yug. You go talk to Moneybags and get more information on whatever this guy's trying to say Kaiba did, and I'll go find out what _really_ happened."


	11. Chapter 11

Daisy

When Yugi went upstairs, he found that neither Seto nor Mokuba were in their rooms. He frowned, and started searching through the mansion for them. Although he wasn't too concerned about the brothers at the moment, he was a little anxious over what had been found in the video, and how the brunet would react. In fact, Yugi had absolutely no idea how he'd take it, since he didn't have the slightest clue who the blonde woman was. Finally, he reached the other end of the mansion, where he heard conversing voices wafting from a large, bright room filled with books and beautifully polished furniture. One voice was weak and slightly congested, while the other was gentle and affectionately amused.

"I think you're wrong, ice cream would be great right now."

"It would make you feel worse."

"How could ice cream possibly make _anyone_ feel bad?"

"Lactose intolerance."

"I'm not lactose intolerant!"

"No, but you have pneumonia, kid. Dairy will mess with your mucus production and you'll get even more stuffed up."

"_You're_ stuffed up."

"I disagree."

Yugi couldn't help but to smile, and he hung back for a second, letting the two have another moment of just them. It wasn't like they'd had a whole lot of family time lately. Seto and Mokuba were lounging on a couch facing a giant window that took up the entire wall. Mokuba was lying on his back, his upper body spread out on his brother's lap while his head rested on a cushion against the arm of the sofa. The elder Kaiba was sitting with his legs stretched on the couch alongside Mokuba, with one arm draped across the child's stomach and a very thick book dangling in his hand, which he had probably been reading before bantering with his little brother. He was looking down at the raven-haired kid with a benevolent expression, while Mokuba openly smiled back up at him.

"Oh, Seto, you don't even know what's cool." With a wide yawn, Mokuba stretched lazily and glanced over to where Yugi was standing, his smile breaking into a wide grin as he waved at him. "Hey, Yugi, what's up?"

"How are you feeling this afternoon?" Yugi asked with a smile of his own, momentarily ignoring the unreadable stare the elder brother was giving him.

"I'm okay, I think...I've only been awake for an hour or so." Mokuba rolled over and curled up on his side, and Yugi noticed that Seto's arm reflexively gripped the kid at his movement; apparently, Mokuba didn't miss it either, as he rolled his eyes and pulled the arm more tightly around him like a blanket.

"I'm not going anywhere, Seto. Calm down."

Seto shot a quick scowl down at the kid before turning back to Yugi. "You have the laptop. I'm assuming you found something?"

"Yeah, actually..." Yugi said, and walked over to hand the laptop to Kaiba. "Do you know who this blonde woman is?"

The brunet frowned, and watched the exchange for a few seconds. "That's Roland's wife...she works in the legal offices. What the-wait, is that a _gun_?"

"Yeah..." Yugi whispered, shaking his head. "Obviously, she didn't kill him, but did he say where he got hurt?"

"His shoulder was gashed open," Seto muttered, narrowing his eyes. He gently pushed Mokuba safely to the side before storming away, obviously on a mission.

"Wait, Kaiba, what are you doing?" Yugi called, frantically glancing from Seto to Mokuba. The elder Kaiba threw a glare over his shoulder, but didn't respond and kept on continuing somewhere else. Yugi hesitated before chasing out after him, following him into his bedroom, where Seto pulled a file off his dresser and sat down on the bed to read it.

"Roland's complaint says that I pushed him, causing him to hit his arm against a sharp edge of something and cut it open. If it was a bullet grazing his arm, then his credibility is shot and I'm off the hook, and all this madness can end. I just need to find a way to force him to admit what really happened, so-"

"Joey's already out working on that," Yugi interjected, wincing as Seto turned another sharp glare at him, feeling the anger filling the room.

"_Wheeler_ is working this out? Do you two have any idea how badly he's going to screw this up for me? He's impulsive and that temper of his will only serve to make everything worse. This is ridiculous, how the hell does anybody expect me to fix all of this when everybody keeps ruining things at every turn?"

He slammed the folder onto his mattress, but Yugi refused to let the anger scare him away. He slowly made his way over to Seto, watching him intently. The blue eyes never stopped flashing, but he didn't make any move to back away or rant anymore.

"I trust Joey. I know he can be brash, but I honestly think that he can do this for you. I also know that you're going to have a tough time accepting this, but even if you don't think of me as a friend, you _know_ you can trust me. I promise you that this will work out just fine," Yugi said, trying to keep his voice both soothing and firm at the same time. He reached out and placed his hand on Seto's arm, and even though the brunet obviously tensed up at the touch, he didn't shake him off or pull away.

* * *

Joey had gone back to Lia's place to have her look up where Roland lived, and in return the blonde had stopped by a taco place, bought a box of fifty tacos, and taken the girl along to stake out the man's house with him. The two of them sat in Joey's truck, scarfing down the food and gossiping about what was going on with who at the university.

"Okay, yeah, the idea of your friend taking shots of tequila out of graduated cylinders is hilarious, but where did those things come from in the first place? What kind of nerd just has random science lab shit just sitting around?" Joey demanded, shoving another chicken taco into his mouth. Lia giggled, took a sip of her water, and scrunched up a wrapper before answering.

"Chemical engineering majors..." she told him, laughing. "I'm not entirely sure what that means, but with all the equipment that was lying around, I can't imagine he's _too_ different from a mad scientist. Except for maybe that he's a mad scientist with an affinity for booze." Lia pulled her red hair over one shoulder and looked at the blonde. "Have you ever considered going back to school? Or does working at the campus coffee shop scare you off?"

Joey grinned and sat back in his seat, watching the house. "I just graduated high school last year. I mean, I'm thinking about it, but I've got other things to work out first, you know? Like, where would I live, and how would I pay for it?" He sighed and reached for another taco. "Or how am I supposed to save Kaiba's ass when the jerk who screwed him over apparently doesn't want to show up at any point today…"

"You know, it's really sweet of you to help him out like this. You guys must be good friends."

The blonde choked on a piece of tortilla, and then proceeded to free it with a large amount of soda. "We aren't exactly friends. Kaiba and I have never been able to stand each other."

"Then why are you doing so much for him?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow as she studied the guy sitting in the driver's seat.

"Well...my buddy Yugi is pretty intent on helping him, and I'm not letting him do this alone. Plus Kaiba's got a little brother who's all mixed up in this, and the kid's pretty cool..." He heaved a sigh. "I don't know. I guess in a weird, twisted, stupid way, he's family. It's complicated and makes my head hurt when I think about it."

Lia giggled softly, but immediately fell silent as a sleek white car pulled up into the driveway. "Hey, I think we've got something." The two watched until Roland stepped out of the car and started to his front door.

"That's our guy." Joey tore off his seatbelt and turned to the redhead. "Okay, I'm going to talk to him. Stay right here and if anything happens-"

"He's unlocking the door. You might want to stop talking now and hurry."

The blonde jumped out hastily, and shouted out at him before Roland could fully open his door. The man turned around and fixed a blank, serious look on Joey, but otherwise made no indication that he even saw him.

"Hey! You and I have some talking to do!"

Roland frowned. "I would doubt that. I no longer work for Mr. Kaiba, and there are some..._issues_ we need to sort out."

"Yeah, I have an issue with you falsely accusing Kaiba of beating the crap out of you."

Roland stiffened and crossed his arms. "Excuse me? If memory serves me correctly-and I know it does-you and Mr. Kaiba aren't even capable of being in the same room as each other for longer than five minutes without an altercation breaking out, so forgive me if I question your allegations..."

"Joke's on you, my record on being around Kaiba without getting in an argument is over fifteen hours."

"I'm assuming this was when he was drugged and therefore, asleep."

"_Anyhow_..." Joey pressed on casually, deciding against an attempt at confirming or denying that statement as Roland had started to turn away, "I was just wondering, who was that blonde chick who pulled that pistol on you in the basement at Kaiba Corp? And why didn't she kill you?"

The older man froze for a moment, then snapped around to fix his eyes on the blonde, who was glaring determinedly right back at him.

"How do you know about that?"

"Dude. You worked for Kaiba for how long? The guy's so paranoid he's got cameras in every nook and cranny of that place." Joey paused and observed Roland's reaction for a moment, then shoved his hands in his pockets and softened his voice. "Look, we also know that you've got one sick kid and another kid trying to get through school. Even Kaiba said if you'd just discussed this with him, he would've helped you out. So let's start again: blonde woman. Who the hell is she?"

Roland stared for a few more moments, sizing Joey up.

"She's my wife...or _ex_-wife, I should say."

"Why did she shove a gun in your face?" Joey asked.

"...My younger son's health is about as bad as it could be. Without being able to afford treatment, he won't live much longer. She's scared and worried for him, and resorted to threatening me. I did what I had to do for all of us."

"So you lied about Kaiba assaulting you? Mokuba saw the whole thing, and according to him, you guys struggled, but he didn't lay a finger on you..." Joey trailed off and thought for a few moments. "Let's make a deal."

"What could you possibly do?"

Joey snorted and shook his head. "Hey, don't sell me short. I've got connections. But here's the idea...if Kaiba pays your son's medical bills, will you drop all charges against him?"

"Mr. Kaiba doesn't forgive that easily-" Roland started, gaping at the blonde as if he was insane. But Joey merely grinned and leaned back against the house's siding.

"Nah, I wouldn't expect him to. But thanks your little lawsuit and the charges against him, some people are thinking that Kaiba can't take care of Mokuba. Now, you've worked for him for a long time, so I'm guessing you know him pretty well. What do you think would happen if Kaiba lost his little brother?"

"He...can't..." Roland trailed off, eyeing Joey suspiciously. "What are you saying?"

"If you drop the charges and admit that you lied about what happened, Moneybags will pay your son's medical bills. I can't guarantee anything about the college thing, but I think giving the other kid a fighting chance is good enough, don't you?" Joey was watching him expectantly, waiting for him to take the bait.

And Roland did. "If Mr. Kaiba will do this, then I will drop all charges. But I highly doubt that you will be able to convince him of this."

Joey laughed and took a few steps back, intending to leave. "I highly think that I can...after all, you've got something he wants too."

"I hope you know that Mr. Kaiba will be furious."

"Oh, yeah," Joey agreed nonchalantly as he started down the driveway. "He's probably going to kill me. But he really doesn't have a choice, just like you."


	12. Chapter 12

Daisy

When Joey got back to Kaiba's place, he found Yugi and Mokuba sitting at the center island in the kitchen, lazily playing a game of piquet. The blonde grinned at them and ruffled both of their hair, causing Yugi to laugh and Mokuba to duck away. The kid only managed to avoid falling off the tall stool by grabbing on to Joey's waist and clinging as the seat toppled backwards. Cracking up, the blonde lifted the kid into his arms as Yugi dashed over to pick the stool back up. Once the scowling little Kaiba was comfortably placed back on the seat, Joey walked around and leaned on the counter across from him.

"Feeling a little better, Mokuba?"

The raven-haired child shrugged. "It's off and on, but not as bad as the past couple weeks." He turned to Yugi and offered a tiny smile. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

Yugi had just pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and slid it over to Mokuba. "Not until you're completely well. Drink." Once Mokuba had obliged, he turned to the blonde. "We just ordered pizza for dinner, and it should be here in about a half hour or so. Why don't you sit down and join us? We can play something else."

"Actually, I should go talk to Kaiba..." Joey said, trailing off. Yugi frowned and sat back.

"Did you find something?"

"Yeah...I did. And I think I have a solution, but Kaiba might strangle me before it works out."

Yugi winced, recalling the conversation he'd had earlier that day with the elder brother. "Oh, no, Joey...what'd you do?"

"I talked to Roland and offered him a deal that Kaiba doesn't know about yet," Joey said, shrugging. There was a long pause of silence before Mokuba spoke up.

"Yeah, he's probably going to kill you."

Joey shot the kid a falsely annoyed looked before grabbing his head again. "Y'know, I liked you better the past few days. At least then you just slept all the time and didn't get that attitude you Kaibas seem to love so much." He stepped away from Mokuba with a sigh, letting his hand linger on the kid's shoulder for a second. "I better go accept my fate, then. Is Kaiba upstairs?"

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah. He's in his room. Be careful, though."

"Careful?" Joey echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Is he having a pissy day again?"

"He had a hard time earlier," Yugi admitted. "But you guys were up all night looking through the cameras, and it wouldn't be good if he went back to pushing himself too much. So Mokuba made him go lie down."

Mokuba nodded in agreement. "He made me promise to tell him when you get back, though."

"I got this," Joey said cheerfully, then bounded up the stairs to the bedroom. He found Kaiba resting on his bed, all spread out on his stomach and breathing heavily enough to make the blonde smirk a little. His head rested on his arms, which were crossed over a multitude of fluffy-looking pillows, while at least three books poked out from underneath those pillows. Joey's expression softened a bit as he gently sat down next the sleeping CEO, and sighed after a few moments before placing his hand on Seto's back and patting repeatedly.

"Kaiba, wake up, man."

Seto's blue eyes opened immediately, and he rubbed them while turning onto his side and blinking. Deciding to procrastinate for a moment in order to let the brunet wake up more, Joey pulled out one of the books from under the pillows and looked at it quizzically.

"_The Divine Comedy_...what's that about?"

"Hell," the brunet replied simply, still half-asleep, and let out a long exhale while he stretched. He watched as Joey opened the book to the very middle, vaguely imagining his dumb blonde head exploding with the content.

Joey didn't feel very differently from that as he stared at seemingly nonsensical stanzas before him, then quickly flipped through the rest of the book. "This is just a long ass poem."

"Good observation."

"And it's all about _hell_? Why are you reading this?" Joey demanded, genuinely wanting an answer to that question.

"Reading relaxes me."

"So read about Harry Potter or something cool like that. How the hell is a huge ass book like this supposed to-" Seto let out an impatient groan that cut the blonde off on his rolling rant.

"Wheeler, did you wake me up to criticize my choice of literature or was there something else you wanted to say?" he asked irritably, pushing himself up to lean back against the fortress of pillows across the head of his bed.

"Oh. Yeah. You made a deal with Roland."

Seto narrowed his eyes and glared at the blonde. "I think I'd remember that, if I did."

"Well..." Joey started out, putting the book down and turning around to make full eye contact, "Technically, I made a deal for you. So there was this blonde woman in the basement with a gun-"

"I _know_ about that. What is this deal, Wheeler?" Seto snapped, losing his patience rapidly. Joey rolled his eyes but forced himself to stay calm.

"Roland's son is dying. I told him that if drops all the charges, you'd pay for the treatment he can't afford. That way, no one has any grounds to take Mokuba from you, and this can all be settled out of court," the blonde said quickly. There was a long period of silence during which Joey anticipated a raging outburst from Kaiba, but nothing happened.

"Are you there...?" he ventured, barely restraining himself from waving his hand in front of the other's face. Seto scowled anyway, but his expression quickly turned serious again.

"...While I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that you made this arrangement with Roland without me, I have to admit I've been hoping that something like this would happen. But it seems too simple..." he said slowly, then buried his face in his hands and massaged his temples. "There's still the whole hospitalization thing, and there are people who can testify that I...that I hurt my brother. Getting rid of this whole thing with Roland just saved me a lawsuit and shot down something the prosecutor can use against me, since his credibility is ruined."

"Kaiba, if you need witnesses to testify that you love your brother and you'd never mean to hurt him, you've got two of them right in this house. And I'm sure your therapist would say that you've been following her recommendations," Joey said, leaping to his feet and stretching his back out.

"How would you know I'm following any recommendations? I don't do what people tell me."

Joey smiled slightly and leaned back against Seto's dresser. "Yeah, I won't argue that you're a stubborn ass. But Yugi and I are still here, aren't we? I don't know what else you're supposed to do, but you're at least following one of the conditions. Anyhow, why don't you come downstairs? They ordered pizza down there, and it should be here soon."

Seto shook his head and started to lie down again. "I'm not hungry."

"Still tired?" When the brunet half-shrugged, Joey pulled at the dark blue comforter that Seto seemed to prefer lying on top of rather them burrowing beneath. "Why don't you just get to bed for the night and we'll bring you food when it gets here?"

"Whatever," Seto muttered, but he pulled the blankets over his body anyhow, and then fished out one of the books from under his pillows and started to read. Joey frowned a little but didn't say anything, then walked back down the stairs to where Yugi was just handing some money to the pizza guy. He thanked the guy again and stepped in, carrying four boxes.

"Dang," Joey said, raising an eyebrow. "That's a lot of pizza."

"Well, there's three people here, plus you...which adds up to about twelve," Yugi joked with a smile. Joey grinned and grabbed the boxes for him and headed back to the kitchen, where Mokuba was sucking down a glass of orange juice through a straw. He looked up at them, particularly at Joey.

"You're still alive," he said with a roguish grin. "I guess Seto must've been at least a little okay with your plan."

"Yeah, he was," Joey said, shrugging. "Don't be so surprised. I tend to have some good ideas." He watched as Yugi flipped open the pizza box, releasing a warm, savory Italian scent in the air. Despite the copious amount of tacos Joey had consumed just a couple hours earlier, the blonde could practically taste the melted cheese and tomato sauce on his tongue. "Man, that looks good."

"Eat some," Mokuba insisted as Yugi placed some plates on the table. The two of them started piling slices on their plates, but Joey hung back for a moment, causing Yugi to frown.

"What's wrong? Usually you're already wolfing something down by the time anyone else gets their food..."

Joey shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm going to bring some up to Rich Boy first."

Mokuba smiled and jumped to his own feet. "I'm going, too. Let's go watch a movie in his room."

"I didn't see a TV in there..." Joey said, giving the kid a funny look. Mokuba broke into a little shit-grin, grabbed Joey's hand after the blonde had grabbed food for himself and the brunet, and dragged him up the stairs to Seto's bedroom. Seto had dozed off again already, lying on his back with the book on his chest and his hand still resting on the binding. Paying no attention to his sleeping brother, Mokuba hopped on to the bed, scrambled over to the nightstand, grabbed the remote, and pressed a button. Seconds later, an entire section of the wall lit up into a broadcast commercial, truly impressing Joey.

Seto instantly woke up at the sudden blaring of music from the television, but his angry expression relaxed into nothing more than mere exasperation when he saw his brother sitting next to him, smiling down at him. He rolled over and wrapped his arms around the kid's waist with a defeated sigh, and Mokuba patted his head.

"Joey brought you some pizza," he told his big brother, running a hand through dark brown hair. "And I decided that we're all going to watch a movie in here."

Seto sat up and accepted the plate of pizza from the blonde, but shot him a dark look when Joey carelessly flopped out on his bed beside Mokuba. Yugi noticed this and placed himself in the chair next to the giant bed, but didn't say anything since Seto had turned back to the television silently. Mokuba switched to a movie station, and the four of them watched and ate in silence for a long time. Two and a half movies later, Yugi realized that both Joey and Mokuba had dozed off, and that Kaiba seemed to be struggling with staying awake himself. Suppressing a smile, Yugi gently retrieved the plate resting on Joey's slowly rising and falling chest and the other from Mokuba's lax hands. Kaiba's plate was lying beside him, just out of Yugi's reach.

"Hey, Kaiba, can you pass me your plate? I'll go wash them off," he whispered. The brunet threw him a hard glance but handed it over, and Yugi brought them down to the kitchen. When he returned, he found that Seto had fallen asleep as well. He reached for the remote and turned down the volume to low, so the noise wouldn't wake them and neither would sudden silence. Yugi walked over to the other side of the bed, where Kaiba's alarm clock was, and quickly set it to eight in the morning, an hour and a half before his therapy appointment the next day. Deciding to leave the three of them to sleep for the night, Yugi returned to the bedroom across the hall and stretched out on his back, falling into deep thought before exhaustion took him to join his friends in sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Daisy

Seto woke up long before his alarm did the next morning. It was still dark outside, and according to the little clock that graced the corner of the early morning news broadcast flashing quietly on his television, it was a quarter after five in the morning. He breathed out and stretched a bit, causing Mokuba to grumble next to him. The kid was buried beneath a sea of blankets and slept on his stomach, right arm flung out and draped across his brother's chest. Seto rolled his eyes, picked up the boy's arm, and placed it on a pillow. On Mokuba's other side still slept Joey, who had snored and drooled and talked in his sleep all night. Despite this and the fact that he'd awakened the brunet a few times with his insane habits, Seto didn't bother kicking him out to a guest bedroom. Mokuba seemed to have slept perfectly fine through all of it, so it wasn't worth starting an altercation with the mutt, especially when it could potentially disturb the sick child. Mokuba did seem to be getting better, so Seto thought it was best to let it go and keep his recovery speeding along.

Sliding out from underneath the blankets, he vaguely noticed that Yugi had disappeared. _At least one of them had the sense to respect boundaries_, he thought. Before heading down to the kitchen to start up some coffee, Seto stuck his head into the guest room across the hall, where he found Yugi curled up on his side and breathing softly. He wondered for a second how this introverted and reserved person could even tolerate the obnoxious blonde sleeping across the hall, let alone care so much about him. The two appeared to have very little in common besides their love of dueling, and even that had gone to the wayside sometime in the past few years. There had to be some other sort of bond; one doesn't simply stand beside someone as fiercely as these two had because of a mutual love of card games.

Kaiba shut the door behind him as he made his way to the kitchen, and retrieved a mug out of the cabinet before starting to brew some coffee. Just as the machine started to steam and pop, a bleary-eyed Yugi appeared in the kitchen, yawning and rubbing at the violet orbs. He was wearing his light blue pajamas splashed with little yellow stars, which Kaiba would have happily mocked in any other given situation. Instead, he pulled out another mug and set it down beside the first, then retrieved a container of sugar and a bottle of French vanilla creamer. The machine fizzled for a few more moments before it came to a slowly dripping stop, and he poured himself a mug of black coffee with just a splash of cream before sitting at the center island, watching Yugi.

"Feel free to help yourself." Kaiba may have retrieved a mug for him, taking into account the fancy high-set cabinets of the mansion in comparison with Yugi's substantial lack of stature, but he wasn't about to start serving him like a barista. Of course, Yugi only uttered a sleepy 'thank you' before piling lots of sugar and cream into his cup with the coffee; the brunet continued to watch until he joined him at the table. Yugi yawned a little and took a sip. He still looked exhausted, and Kaiba couldn't think of a single reason why he'd force himself to be awake when he didn't need to.

Not that he really cared. It was all a point of logic, really.

"You're up early."

Yugi nodded tiredly. "So are you. Did you have a bad dream again?"

Kaiba frowned and shook his head. "No."

"You have your therapy appointment later," Yugi said, almost as if he was musing. He blinked, yawned, and took a sip of his drink. "You know, Kaiba, you've come a long way in just the past few days alone. I'm proud of you."

While the brunet didn't respond, Yugi could tell by the faintly surprised look in his eyes that his words had been taken to heart. The shorter one offered a small smile before drinking the rest of his coffee in silence. Kaiba stared down into his own mug, closed his eyes for a moment, and willed with all of his remaining strength for the rest of the day to go well.

* * *

"So how have the past few days gone?" Lily asked as soon as both she and Seto were situated at in her office. Seto thought for a moment and half-shrugged.

"Things have gone worse in my life."

Lily smiled a bit. "How's having a house guest going?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "I can't say I'm used to having people constantly intruding in my personal life. I don't like it much."

Of course, deep down he did appreciate and enjoy the extra support, especially since he had to admit that without them, he probably wouldn't have been able to talk and calm Mokuba during that little spat they'd struggled with. Nor would he have found what he needed in order to clear his name, at least in the eyes of the law. He knew he'd continue to feel guilty over hurting Mokuba for some time to come, but as long as he continued to take things one step at a time, it would all eventually pass. And they could move on.

The blonde woman flipped her silvery blonde hair over her shoulder and watched him carefully, nodding slowly. "Why? They care about you."

"I know," Seto muttered, "but they shouldn't. I've done nothing to warrant anything like that from them. It would just be easier for them to accept that and move on."

"Out of curiosity, how exactly did you meet them? From what you've told me in other sessions, these people don't seem like ones you'd spend time with or really notice," she said quietly.

"...We went to the same school," he said vaguely, knowing that going into detail about how he got way too obsessed over losing a game and invested countless hours designing and implementing complex machinery in order to kill Yugi and his friends wouldn't go in his favor with a therapist. Besides, he'd conquered that demon long ago.

Or rather, Yugi conquered that demon inside him long ago. But Lily was still watching expectantly, knowing full well that there was more to that story. Seto let out an impatient sigh before expanding.

"He had something I wanted and had been looking to find for a long time...a very rare Duel Monsters card. Actually, his grandfather had it, and I forced him to challenge me while using the card as a stake. Of course, I won, and destroyed the card. After that, I bullied Yugi into dueling me, but...he beat me. That's when I started questioning everything."

"Define 'everything," she coaxed him, taking a sip of her extra-fragrant tea.

"Exactly what that means. My strategy, my work, my life, and everything in between. It shook my confidence enough to where I failed in…_helping_ my brother with something...important..." He shook his head, deciding once again not to expand into details. "And Yugi ended up helping me with that as well after I failed."

Lily nodded and thought for a moment. "He's a very loyal friend to you."

"He's not my friend," Kaiba snapped. Lily frowned, raising an eyebrow.

"What would you call him, then?"

"He _was_ my rival..." Kaiba said, but trailed off after realizing that he didn't really even know how to categorize Yugi in his life. He never thought he'd have to before, but now that it had been brought up, it almost seemed worth considering. "But he still always wanted to help me. I don't understand that. Everybody in this world is out for themselves, and essentially only want to further their own agendas. This is something I have always recognized, and Yugi is the only person I know who constantly puts himself after everyone else, and I haven't figured out why. It makes no sense. No one is that selfless for no reason. Plus Yugi used to get bullied all the time. People were awful to him, and for some reason he'd still do anything for anyone."

"Have you considered that his past is why he feels obligated to be a people-pleaser?" Lily asked. "Maybe he feels like if he doesn't act that way, things will get bad again."

"But his friends wouldn't let that happen. Especially that one impulsive moron..." Kaiba replied, rolling his eyes again. "Yugi could stand to be a little more selfish."

"I think he reflects you a bit," the therapist said, and held her hand up when Kaiba looked as though he was about to protest. "You've shared that you feel as if you can't bond with anyone outside your little brother because of how you grew up and what you were taught about being alone. Yugi seems to have learned the opposite: that to be alone is horrible and is not a place anyone should be. And just like you, experiencing his fear would be absolutely unacceptable."

Kaiba frowned, sat back, and thought for a moment. He nodded slowly, and for the first time in his life, he had true empathy for someone other than his little brother.

* * *

"100 degrees, right on the money. Almost back to normal, kid."

Joey placed the thermometer on Kaiba's nightstand and turned back to a sleepy Mokuba, who the blonde had just awakened to check his temperature. The kid yawned and rolled onto his back, shaking his head.

"If I'm getting back to normal, then why am I still so tired?"

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly and pulled the blue comforter over Mokuba's shoulders. "Probably just your body fighting off the last of your sickness. If you just keep laying low for the next couple days, I think you'll be good as new."

Mokuba stifled another yawn and nodded, gazing up at Joey. "I was really scared when the doctor first told me I had pneumonia."

Joey frowned. "Really? Why?"

"Because when we first moved to the orphanage, Seto got pneumonia. He was really sick, and got to the point where he was never awake and could barely breathe...eventually, they had him hospitalized." Mokuba shuddered at the memory. "He was there for almost three weeks. They wouldn't let me see him or anything, and I thought I was going to lose him..."

"Aw, kid, that's all over with now. Your brother's alive and well and talking to his shrink...and then he's going to talk with those lawyers, and then he'll be home. Then the two of you can, um...work...actually, I have no idea what you guys do together outside of work."

Mokuba smiled a little and curled up. "We play games together...watch movies...sometimes we just sit together and do our own things; you know, I'll play a video game and he'll play around with physics. I guess that's fun for him." Mokuba giggled to himself and closed his eyes. "He likes to read, too, so sometimes he'll read me the books he's reading, even though I say I'm too old for that. But I like hearing his voice. He doesn't really talk much if he doesn't have to, so I like knowing for sure that he's with me..."

Joey sat with the kid as he trailed off and fell asleep, then grinned and went back down to the living room, where Yugi was eating a bag of chips and watching a television show. Joey flopped down on the couch beside him, his smile fading.

"So, when do you think Kaiba will be back? Because I told Mokuba everything would be fine, so..."

Yugi smiled and swallow the chips in his mouth before answering. "Actually...Kaiba's off the hook for everything and he's on his way now. He and his lawyers spoke with the prosecution and Roland's attorney. They called me for confirmation about him and Mokuba-you know, how Kaiba would never hurt him, and that this was an isolated incident-and I guess they took my word for it. Roland is also being charged with filing a false report, and his wife is being charged with intimidation. But anyhow, Kaiba's on his way home now, so we can leave when he gets here."

"Intimidation? That's actually an offense?" Joey said, grinning. Yugi laughed and nodded.

"Apparently." He handed the bag of chips over to Joey, who had been eyeing them wistfully. "I think Kaiba still has to go to therapy, though."

"That'll be good for him," Joey said, stuffing some chips into his mouth. "You want to get some food after he gets here? Then go to the arcade?"

Yugi shrugged and nodded. "Sounds good."

A few minutes later, the front door opened, and Kaiba walked through, looking about as relieved as anyone had probably ever seen him. The other two stood and turned to face him; Yugi was smiling.

"So, feeling better now?"

Kaiba nodded and shrugged off his blue coat, hanging it up on the hook next to the door. "Yes, I am." He hesitated, then added, "Thank you."

"Anytime," Yugi said cheerily, then started heading up the stairs. "I'll go get our stuff so you and Mokuba can spend some time alone."

Kaiba nodded and turned to Joey, specifically staring at the purplish cut beneath his eye, the little bandage standing out against the discoloration. "What happened to your eye anyhow?"

"You're the one who put this thing on it days ago and _now_ you're asking?"

"Wheeler, just answer my question." Not like he didn't already know, he just wanted a straight response.

"My dad's a drunk, an angry one. He's actually just angry all the time, but some times it's worse than other times. Especially when he's drunk. And that when this happens," he told the brunet suspiciously, gesturing at his face.

Kaiba leaned back against the door and watched him for a moment. "I need a new head of security here. I pay well, and I would allow you to live here, just like the other security staff. So you'd be out of your father's place. My staff will return next Monday, so until then, you'll be receiving training from me. When I return to work on Monday, you will work between the hours of seven in the morning and four in the afternoon, which are the hours I typically work. Is this feasible?"

"...You trust me?"

Kaiba let out a slow breath, slightly annoyed. "More than anyone else I could hire at the present time."

Despite Kaiba's irritated voice and obvious lack of patience, Joey grinned. "Yeah...yeah, I'll take it."

"All right. Go pick out a bedroom, because mine is officially _not_ yours."

"What, you don't like roommates?"

"Not when they snore like you do."

"Yeah, like _you_ can complain about other people's snoring..."

Kaiba shot him a glare, and was about shoot back when he saw a shit-grin cross Joey's face. Deciding not to feed in to the blonde's idiotic banter, he rolled his eyes and walked to the living room, where he picked up the empty chip bag and brought it to a trash can in the kitchen. Yugi appeared behind him after a few moments, his blue bag over his shoulder.

"I just wanted to make sure you'll be okay when we leave," he said, grabbing the strap of his backpack nervously. "I'm really glad everything worked out for you."

Kaiba nodded, looking down at him carefully. "Thank you, Yugi. If I lost Mokuba..."

Yugi quickly shook his head. "You don't have to say anything. I understand, and I'd never let that happen."

Luckily, Kaiba was saved from having to respond by Joey running into the kitchen with a huge grin plastered all over his face. However, this stopped when he saw Yugi and Kaiba looking as serious as they did.

"Oh...is everything all right...?" he ventured, looking between the two. Yugi nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. Everything's right for once."

"Okay, good, because I was going to tell you-"

"I gave Wheeler a job," Kaiba interrupted. "He's taking Roland's place. If you two were planning something tonight, that's fine. Your classes will start at seven tomorrow morning."

Yugi broke into a wide smile. "That's great!" Joey nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good, Moneybags. See you in the morning. Oh, and Mokuba's still sleeping in your room, so if you need to go and brood or whatever other hobbies you have, I'd go somewhere else. Or at least be quiet."

Kaiba watched as the two scurried out, silently reflecting back on just the past few days. How everything had spiraled out of control, and then had been pieced back together so quickly. In his personal experience, things never got solved that quickly. Then again, he'd always solved things on his own before. Realizing how tired he was now that all the stress and mess had been dealt with, he turned on his heel and headed towards the staircase, letting out a small yawn. Suddenly, taking a nap with his little brother seemed like the most important thing in his life.

**TO BE CONCLUDED...**


	14. Chapter 14

Daisy

_Six Months Later..._

"Wheeler, just go home. I have to stay late and finish these contracts, but Mokuba would appreciate your...appreciate _you_ more than I would right now."

"Aw, Kaiba, you know Mokuba would kill me if I just let you stay here. Last thing we want would be a repeat of why I'm standing here right now."

The brunet rolled his eyes and massaged his temples. "I really need to finish these for tomorrow. Tell Mokuba I promise I'll be home by six, and if I'm not, I give you permission to come back and drag me out yourself."

"And what makes you think I'd waste all that time coming all the way back? Jesus Christ, Kaiba, you live literally half an hour away! I have things to do!" Joey exclaimed indignantly, but his agitation quelled when Kaiba gave him a look that said, _come on_. "Okay. Yeah, you're right, I'd come all the way back. But I don't want to. So you better be home, Rich Boy."

"Hnh. Because all of my decisions are always based off what's convenient for _you_," Kaiba said sarcastically, tuning out the ensuing squawks from the blonde. He had to admit that his life had drastically improved over the past half a year. He'd managed to relinquish responsibilities more to the people he'd actually hired them for, and was very good about sticking to a pretty solid work schedule that he and Mokuba had put together with his therapist. He'd been sleeping better too. Sometimes Joey would actually have to come and wake him up for the day; of course, that would be after Mokuba worked hard rouse the blonde from his sleep, but it all worked out fine for the most part. Mokuba also insisted that they spend time together more as well, outside of working, and Kaiba had easily agreed to that. The one little thing that had concerned him, however, was that Mokuba had at some point made a habit of ending up in his big brother's bed almost every night. Kaiba certainly didn't mind the kid's presence, but when it turned out that this was happening out of anxiety, the elder brother put a stop to it by spending nearly two hours convincing Mokuba that he was fine, and that everything was back on track. He promised the child that he was doing well and would never leave him or lose each other, and that it really wasn't just the two of them anymore. They had other people to support them. Mokuba broke into a huge smile and hugged his brother, and that was the end of that.

Yugi was a regular presence at the mansion now, and Kaiba was essentially all right with this. All the other members of his little group had moved out of Domino-save for Joey, of course-and now that Kaiba could understand how Yugi would feel if he didn't have anyone, he made it clear to everyone that the shorter duelist was welcome whenever he pleased. He even gave his chauffeur orders that if Yugi needed a ride to the mansion, he was to go pick him up. The kitchen staff was more than happy to serve him food and beverages; they were primarily older women who absolutely adored Yugi's sweet and childish nature. All Kaiba really did about that was roll his eyes and leave the room when things got to be too much.

When Joey reached the mansion, he found Yugi and Mokuba playing some video game in the living room. He called out to them while pulling off his tie; Mokuba started to giggle.

"What's so funny? Did Yugi beat you again?" Joey asked, flopping onto the couch. Mokuba rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"No. It's just funny seeing you in a suit. Even Seto doesn't wear suits that much."

Joey shot him a look of his own. "Yeah, why is that, anyway? He's the president of the company, isn't wearing a suit one of the reasons people in his position are called...well, _suits_?"

"He owns the place," Mokuba said, shrugging. "He can do whatever he wants."

Yugi laughed at that while Joey let out a string of profanity, both knowing full well that Mokuba was correct. Even though the elder brother had softened up a bit around the other two, he was still Seto Kaiba: cold, calculating, and serious. Yugi couldn't quite understand why Kaiba still refused to label them as friends, but he more or less treated them as such. He was happy with the progress Kaiba was making, and he hoped that it would continue.

The door opened again, and Kaiba entered the room, handing his jacket to the new butler. Mokuba turned around and grinned at the new arrival, leaping over the back of the couch and grabbing his brother's hand.

"Seto, I have something to show you!" he urged, pulling Kaiba towards the hallway. Yugi just smiled faintly as Joey shot all of them a weird look.

Mokuba led his brother out to the back garden, and gestured proudly at a magnificent floral masterpiece. There was an entire patch completely filled with daisies, and another with a single amaryllis. Kaiba gaped at this, and turned back to his brother.

"Mokuba, when did you...?"

"You forgot about the landscapers and gardeners coming this morning," Mokuba explained. "Well, actually, we all did, but I felt like the backyard could use a little spicing up. So I did this...I know you liked Mom's flowers and stuff, and that you always had some weird thing against daisies, and I think I know why. Still, we've all turned over a whole new leaf. " He smiled up at his brother, who knelt down to the kid's level and pulled him into his arms. Mokuba buried his face into the crook of Seto's neck. "I know that lady always said that daisies stood for happiness and stuff. Maybe this could be a way of keeping this all going."

Kaiba didn't speak; he never expected anything quite so...lovely. But everything else had changed, why not his opinion over something as benign as a little white flower? He squeezed Mokuba even tighter.

"It looks great, kid. Maybe we should get some more amaryllises in, though...for Mom."


End file.
